Dear Sir or Madam,

Is it the intention of the Audit Commission ('AC') to conform with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and publish all minutes and
agendas of its meetings (Board and Commission). The Information
Commissioner on 31 July 2008 published guidance on this issue, and
this information appears to have been excluded from the Publication
Scheme on the AC Website.

If it is not the intention of the AC to publish its minutes and
agendas on the AC Website within the next 20 days - please forward
copies of all minutes and agendas since the FOI came into force (30
November 2000) and identify clearly if the minutes and agenda are
edited or unedited.

Additionally, if it should not be the intention of the AC to comply
with the FoI Act please forward copies of all documents identifying
its reasons.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Dear Mr Harwicke Carruthers

Thank you for your request for information received on 6 August 2008.

The Audit Commission is committed to the principles of the Freedom of
Information Act (FoIA) and will wherever possible provide all the
information requested unless constrained by another statute or by an
exemption within the FoIA. Please note that some information you have
requested may not be provided to you; this will only be information that
can be withheld by law. In most cases the reasons will be explained to
you along with your copy of any information that can be released to you.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as defined by the FoIA. That
date is 3 September 2008.

I may need to contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is
to ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

As you have contacted us by email, I will send the full response to you
at this email address. If you would prefer me to send it to another
address, or by hard copy, please do contact me.

Yours sincerely

Julie Hope
Head of the Chief Executive's Office
Audit Commission

1st Floor

Millbank Tower

Millbank

London

SW1P 4HQ

Tel: 0844 798 2104

Fax: 0845 052 2608

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Dear Julie Hope,

Many thanks for your reply. I doubt that there is any requirement
under FoI that the Commission's agendas and minutes should not be
published and made available. The ICO has again identified that
this is good practice under FoI.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

I emailed you on 7 August 2008, to acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. In that acknowledgement, I said that I may need to contact you if the request needed to be clarified.

I carefully considered your request; however, in its present form, it will have be refused under section 12 of the Act. This is because I have concluded that the cost of complying with your request will exceed the 'appropriate limit' of £450 (18 hours @ £25 per hour) which is laid down by the Act and associated Regulations (SI 3244 2004 Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004).

There have been 75 Board meetings since 30 November 2000. I estimate that to assess the information you have requested would total at least 93 hours of work costing £2325.

You do have the opportunity to limit or refine the request so that the cost falls within the £450 limit. I believe that your request can be narrowed down to fall within the appropriate limit by restricting it to a request for the Board minutes for the last 18 months.

If you would like to pursue your request please write to me with the reduced requirements. Should you decide to proceed by narrowing the request down there will be a further assessment of whether the information requested can be provided under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Julie Hope

Julie Hope
Head of the Chief Executive's Office
Audit Commission

1st Floor

Millbank Tower

Millbank

London

SW1P 4HQ

Tel: 0844 798 2104

Fax: 0845 052 2608

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Dear Julie Hope,

Many thanks for your reply. This I find rather surprising
considering that the Audit Commission identifies that it supports
the Freedom of Information Act, and the ICO has identified that
minutes and agendas as a matter of good practice should be
published.

Consequently, as you identify that the cost is about £30.86 for
each set of agenda's and minutes - please publish the last 14
(including the current set) = £432.04 - or as you identify the last
eighteen months.

I should also appreciate any written identification from the Audit
Commission identifying that it should disregard the FoI act in
relation to its minutes and agenda's, and reject the Information
Commissioners guidance on the issue.

The Commission in its publications states: 'The Commission is
required to lead by example across all aspects of governance' does
the Audit Commission believe that it is good practice to flout the
Freedom of Information Act ? The costs should not and would not be
necessary if there had been complaince.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Could you confirm receipt of my email, please, and let me know, if possible, when you are likely to be able to reply? The timetable for the FOI request is still the same, so the longer we wait to hear from you, the shorter the time we have to be able to help you.

Julie Hope
Head of the Chief Executive's Office
Audit Commission

1st Floor

Millbank Tower

Millbank

London

SW1P 4HQ

Tel: 0844 798 2104

Fax: 0845 052 2608

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Dear Sirs,

I have already responded to the email request posted by Julie HOPE
for the Audit Commission. The request for clarification was on 11
August 2008 - when Julie HOPE identified that the Audit Commission
would not release all the information using its exemption under s12
of the FoI Act. The clarification requested was provided on 11
August 2008 taking account of the Audit Commission's reliance on
s12, and a modified request was made.

This does not negate the Information Commissioners Officer's [ICO]
guidance that minutes of meetings and agendas should be routinely
published. Guidance that the ICO has reconfirmed. The request for
information was made to the Audit Commission - not Julie Hope who
in a telco on 12 August 2008 identified that she was responsible
for this activity.

The Commission in its publications states: 'The Commission is
required to lead by example across all aspects of governance' does
the Audit Commission believe that it is good practice to flout the
Freedom of Information Act ? The costs should not and would not be
necessary if there had been complaince and as such the Audit
Commission's reliance on s12 of the FoI appears to be nonsensical.

The issues in relation to this FoI are very straightforward and
merely relate to publication of the Commission's agenda's and
minutes. There should have been no need to make the request as the
minutes and agendas should already be published on the Audit
Commission Web Site (and this activity incorporated into workflow).
There has obviously been a 'glitch' and this should be relatively
easy to put right. There appear to be quite a large number of
organisations that provide regulatory services that have failed to
take account of the ICO's guidance. However, this does not negate
the fact that the Audit Commission should have taken a lead on this
issue.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Following my email of earlier today, and our subsequent telephone
conversation, I have now read your response to my email of 11 August. I
will consider your revised request and, in accordance with the
timescales laid down by the Act, a response will be sent to you by 3
September 2008.

To avoid any further confusion or delays, please send any further emails
in relation to this FOI request direct to me at
[email address]. As I explained to you on the telephone,
if you wish to post my responses or on your website afterwards that is
entirely up to you.

Julie Hope
Head of the Chief Executive's Office
Audit Commission

1st Floor

Millbank Tower

Millbank

London

SW1P 4HQ

Tel: 0844 798 2104

Fax: 0845 052 2608

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Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Freedom of Information request - Audit Commission Minutes and Agendas -
RFI 877

Minutes covering the last 18 months (December 2006 to June 2008) have
been located. After an initial review of the information, I write to
inform you that two exemptions are being considered:

* Section 33 Audit functions
* Section 36 Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs

The Commission is assessing the nature of any prejudice that might
result from disclosure of information; determining the likelihood of the
prejudice occurring and considering the public interest test - balancing
the public interest in withholding the information against the public
interest in making it available.

I regret to inform you that the Commission is still working on reaching
a decision as to whether the exemptions apply and, if so, to what
extent.

In accordance with Section 17(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, the
Commission now estimates that it will respond to your request on or
before 17 September 2008.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Shipsey
Compliance Manager
BIS - Information Management

Tel: 0844 798 6286
Email: [email address]

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests please email
[Audit Commission request email]

Please think before you print this email

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<<EFI 877 response letter V0_1.pdf>> <<RFI 877 Explanation note.pdf>>
<<2007-05-10 10 May 2007 Board Agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2007-05-10
Minutes of 10 May 2007 Board Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2007-07-26 26
July 2007 Board agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2007-07-26 Minutes of 26 July
2007 Board Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2007-09-14 14 September 2007
Board agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2007-09-14 Minutes of 14 September 2007
Board Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2007-11-08 08 November 2007 Board
agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2007-11-08 Minutes of 08 November 2007 Board
Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2007-12-13 13 December 2007 Board
agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2007-12-13 Minutes of 13 December 2007 Board
Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2008-01-24 24 January 2008 Board
agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2008-01-24 Minutes of 24 January 2008 Board
Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<2008-03-13 13 March 2008 Board agenda
vFINAL.pdf>> <<2008-03-13 Minutes of 13 March 2008 Board Meeting FINAL
FoIA.pdf>> <<2008-04-24 24 April 2008 Board agenda vFINAL.pdf>>
<<2008-04-24 Minutes of 24 April 2008 Board Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>>
<<2008-06-05 05 June 2008 Board agenda vFINAL.pdf>> <<2008-06-05
Minutes of 05 June 2008 Board Meeting FINAL FoIA.pdf>> <<Information
Complaints Procedure V2-0.pdf>>
Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

See attachments.

Attachments consist of:
* Response Letter
* Explanation note
* The agenda and minutes for:
May 2007
July 2007
September 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
March 2008
April 2008
June 2008
* Information Complaints Procedure

Kind Regards

Shaun Kavanagh
Information Compliance Advisor
+44 (0)844 798 7961
[email address]

The Audit Commission
Nicholson House
Lime Kiln Close
Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS34 8SU

Any Freedom of Information requests please send these directly to
[Audit Commission request email]

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