Chronology of EU Inquiry [ref: 610/09/TREN] into Rathlin ferry contract

The request was successful.

Dear Office of Government Commerce,

Can you please provide a chronology from March 2009 of the contacts between European Commission DG TREN G/2, UK government departments (Cabinet Office European Secretariat and Office of Government Commerce) and two departments in Belfast (Finance and Personnel and Regional Development) in relation to the EU TREN inquiry into certain aspects of the Rathlin ferry contract which was awarded to a new operator in 2008? The EU TREN reference is 610/09/TREN.

Yours faithfully,

Nevin

OGC ServiceDesk, Office of Government Commerce

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Dholiwar, Veena, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST REFERENCE NO:

I write in connection with your request for information dated 22/02/2010
which was received by OGC on22/02/2010. I note you seek access to the
following information:

* Can you please provide a chronology from March 2009 of the contacts
between European Commission DG TREN G/2, UK government departments
(Cabinet Office European Secretariat and Office of Government
Commerce) and two departments in Belfast (Finance and Personnel and
Regional Development) in relation to the EU TREN inquiry into certain
aspects of the Rathlin ferry contract which was awarded to a new
operator in 2008? The EU TREN reference is 610/09/TREN.

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to
the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances OGC may be unable to achieve this deadline.
If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at
the earliest opportunity.

OGC's policy is not to charge for providing information where to do so
costs less than the "appropriate limit" [Note: The "appropriate limit"
means such amount as may be set by the regulations], which is currently
£600

Where the cost of providing information would exceed £600, OGC will
generally not provide the information.  However, OGC may be able to
provide some of the information requested if it can be supplied within the
"appropriate limit".

There may be a separate fee payable for the costs of copying and postage
if you require the information in hard copy. If this is the case you will
be informed and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we
receive payment from you. If you chose not to make payment then your
request will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
OGC.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact our Service Desk on 0845 000 4999 or e-mail [1]Service
[email address], quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

[Service Desk Agent]

Tel: 0845 000 4999
Fax: 01603 704596
email: [OGC request email]

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
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References

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Dholiwar, Veena, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 495636

I write in connection with your request for information dated 22/02/2010
which was received by OGC on22/02/2010. I note you seek access to the
following information:

* Can you please provide a chronology from March 2009 of the contacts
between European Commission DG TREN G/2, UK government departments
(Cabinet Office European Secretariat and Office of Government
Commerce) and two departments in Belfast (Finance and Personnel and
Regional Development) in relation to the EU TREN inquiry into certain
aspects of the Rathlin ferry contract which was awarded to a new
operator in 2008? The EU TREN reference is 610/09/TREN.

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to
the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances OGC may be unable to achieve this deadline.
If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at
the earliest opportunity.

OGC's policy is not to charge for providing information where to do so
costs less than the "appropriate limit" [Note: The "appropriate limit"
means such amount as may be set by the regulations], which is currently
£600

Where the cost of providing information would exceed £600, OGC will
generally not provide the information. However, OGC may be able to
provide some of the information requested if it can be supplied within the
"appropriate limit".

There may be a separate fee payable for the costs of copying and postage
if you require the information in hard copy. If this is the case you will
be informed and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we
receive payment from you. If you chose not to make payment then your
request will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
OGC.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact our Service Desk on 0845 000 4999 or e-mail [1]Service
[email address], quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

[Service Desk Agent]

Tel: 0845 000 4999
Fax: 01603 704596
email: [OGC request email]

This email and any attachments may be confidential and are intended for
the use of the named addressee(s) only. If you have received this email
and the attachments in error you must not take any action based on them,
nor must you copy or show them to anyone else. Please notify the OGC
Service Desk immediately on [OGC request email] and remove from
your system.

Incoming and outgoing emails may be subject to monitoring and recording by
OGC to prevent computer viruses, spam and for the prevention and detection
of unauthorised transmission of information. Such monitoring will be
carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation. It may also need
to be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

[2]www.ogc.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

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1. mailto:Service [email address]
2. http://www.ogc.gov.uk/

Dholiwar, Veena, Office of Government Commerce

Dholiwar, Veena would like to recall the message, " FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ACT REQUEST REFERENCE NO:".

This email and any attachments may be confidential and are intended for
the use of the named addressee(s) only. If you have received this email
and the attachments in error you must not take any action based on them,
nor must you copy or show them to anyone else. Please notify the OGC
Service Desk immediately on [OGC request email] and remove from
your system.

Incoming and outgoing emails may be subject to monitoring and recording by
OGC to prevent computer viruses, spam and for the prevention and detection
of unauthorised transmission of information. Such monitoring will be
carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation. It may also need
to be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

[1]www.ogc.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ogc.gov.uk/

FOI Team, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin,

I refer to your below FOI request:

Dear Office of Government Commerce,

Can you please provide a chronology from March 2009 of the contacts
between European Commission DG TREN G/2, UK government departments
(Cabinet Office European Secretariat and Office of Government Commerce)
and two departments in Belfast (Finance and Personnel and Regional
Development) in relation to the EU TREN inquiry into certain aspects of
the Rathlin ferry contract which was awarded to a new operator in 2008?
The EU TREN reference is 610/09/TREN.

Yours faithfully,

Nevin

The Freedom of Information Act requires applicants to provide their
name in order for the request to be valid. The Information Commissioner's
guidance suggests adopting a sensible approach in relation to obvious
pseudonyms - asking for a name rather than simply rejecting a request out
of hand, but confirms that a request without the applicant's real name -
which has to be enough to identify him - is not a valid request, and also
that a complaint in respect of it would not be entertained by the
Commissioner. The guidance is at:
[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

I would therefore be grateful if you would provide me with your full name.

We have started work on looking for the information you've requested as we
anticipate that you'll get back to us fairly quickly - but if I don't hear
from you by Wednesday next week we won't be able to process your request
any further.

I look forward to hearing from you.

With regards,
Kate

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Dear Kate/FOI Team,

The hyperlink in your message doesn't work.

Do you have an email address or a phone number that I can sent my response to?

Yours sincerely,

Nevin

FOI Team, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin,

You can send your response to this e-mail address.

Kind regards,
Kate

____________________________
Kate Eveson|Information Rights Officer|Information Management
Office of Government Commerce, Rosebery Court. St Andrews Business Park,
Norwich, NR7 0HS|Tel: 01603 704588

Please note that I only work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

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Dear Kate,

I can't see an email address so I left a message on your voice mail.

Yours sincerely,

Nevin

FOI Team, Office of Government Commerce

Hi Nevin,

I have just picked up your message but you did not leave a contact
number to call you on.

Please e-mail your response to this address: [email address]

Kind regards,
Kate

____________________________
Kate Eveson|Information Rights Officer|Information Management
Office of Government Commerce, Rosebery Court. St Andrews Business Park,
Norwich, NR7 0HS|Tel: 01603 704588

Please note that I only work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

show quoted sections

Dear FOI Team,

I have not yet received a reply to my request. I understand that, by law, your office should normally have responded promptly and by 23 March 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Nevin

Eveson, Kate, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin,

I refer to your FOI request (ref 495363). I am sorry that we have been
unable to respond to your FOI request within the 20 working day deadline.

Unfortunately, our response to your request is still being considered by a
third party. We do not have any control over when they will reach a
decision, but we will do our best to expedite matters. We will keep you
informed on the progress of your request.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you.

With regards,

Kate

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Dear Kate,

In my request of 22 February I named five parties: European Commission DG TREN G/2, UK government departments (Cabinet Office European Secretariat and Office of Government Commerce) and two departments in Belfast (Finance and Personnel and Regional Development).

Can you confirm that four of these five parties have responded positively to the request for a chronology?

Yours sincerely,

Nevin

Eveson, Kate, Office of Government Commerce

Dear Nevin,

In responding to your request we have searched for recorded information
held by OGC to enable us to provide details, in the form of a chronology
as requested, of the correspondence between the named bodies. We have
not asked any of the other named bodies to provide us with a chronology
of their correspondence with each other. If you wish to obtain recorded
information that is not held by OGC you will need to approach the bodies
concerned directly.

In relation to some of the information held, we are considering whether
the public interest favours maintenance of a statutory exemption or
disclosure of the information - it is in relation to this exercise that
we have consulted with a third party, and we need further time to
complete this task.

If we are able to provide you with a deadline of when we will be able to
respond to your request, I will let you know within the next few days.

Kind regards,
Kate
____________________________
Kate Eveson|Information Rights Officer|Information Management
Office of Government Commerce, Rosebery Court. St Andrews Business Park,
Norwich, NR7 0HS|Tel: 01603 704588

Please note that I only work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

show quoted sections

FOI Team, Office of Government Commerce

1 Attachment

Dear Nevin,

I attach OGC's response to your FOI request (ref 495636).

I apologise for the delay in responding to your request and any
inconvenience this may have caused you.

With regards,
Kate

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Dear Kate,

Thank you very much for your detailed response.

Yours sincerely,

Nevin