British cultural attachés

Kaihsu Tai made this Freedom of Information request to Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The request was refused by Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

From: Kaihsu Tai

27 April 2009

Dear Madam or Sir,

Would you please provide a list of names of current British
cultural attachés by host country (country of deployment), and the
aggregate data on their religions and ethnicities (by census
categories) if available? Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Dr Kaihsu Tai

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

28 April 2009

Dear Dr Tai

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. It has been passed to
the relevant section within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to deal
with. They will be in touch with you should your request need
clarification.

We received your request on 28 April 2009 and will aim to respond within
20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Bruce
Information Rights
Information Management Group | Information & Technology Directorate |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
email: [FCO request email]
... visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

14 May 2009

Dear Dr Tai,

Thank you for your request about cultural attaches. This has been passed
to me to handle within the FCO. The term 'cultural attache' is not one
which our central management information which monitors job titles/people
recognises. On consulting colleagues it also appears to be a term which
is not used generally as a job description in the office. We therefore,
have no way of finding out details about each of the people working on
cultural issues in our posts without consulting them all individually
(there are over 200 of them). Can you confirm that it is information
about people working on cultural relations that you wish to receive. If
that is the case, although I cannot say for certain before you have
clarified your request, I may well have to send you a response which cites
section 12 of the Act (disproportionate cost).

Look forward to hearing from you.

Yours

Jane
Jane Sigsworth
HR Communications Manager/OGLO
Human Resources Directorate
OAB 2/131
tel: 020 7008 0047

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& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
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the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.

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References

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1. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
2. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/

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From: Kaihsu Tai

14 May 2009

Dear Ms Sigsworth,

Thank you for your message. Indeed it is information about people
working on cultural relations that I wish to receive. I do not mind
receiving a notice of exemption under section 12 if that turns out
to be applicable. Again, many thanks.

Sincerely,

Kaihsu Tai

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

1 June 2009

Attachment FOI 0341 09 Dr Tai.doc.pdf
83K Download View as HTML

Dear Dr Tai

I attach a response to your request.

Regards

Jane
Jane Sigsworth
HR Communications Manager/OGLO
Human Resources Directorate
OAB 2/131
tel: 020 7008 0047

***********************************************************************************
Visit [1]http://www.fco.gov.uk for British foreign policy news and travel
advice and [2]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk to read our blogs.

Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
logged, monitored and/or recorded in accordance with the
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of
Communications) Regulations 2000. We keep and use information in line with
the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.

***********************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
2. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/

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Kaihsu Tai left an annotation ( 1 June 2009)

Rejected with this reason: “Our central management information system does not recognise the term ‘cultural attache’. Therefore, I would need to approach all of our Embassies/High Commissions (there are over 200 of them) to provide you with an accurate figure for people working on cultural issues. I estimate that to locate, retrieve and extract such information would exceed the appropriate limit of £600 or 3.5 days. This limit has been specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. S.12 of the Freedom of Information Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit. I will not, therefore, be processing your request further.”

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From: Kaihsu Tai

1 June 2009

Dear Ms Sigsworth,

Thank you for your explanation. I shall consider carefully about
how to proceed. Again, many thanks.

Sincerely,

Kaihsu Tai

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