CLARIFICATION OF THE MINISTER OF STATE'S ANSWER TO VINCENT CABLE MP, ON UNRELEASED INFORMATION ON THE HBOS - LLOYDS TSB MERGER

Dear Sir or Madam,

I refer to the "holding" written answer provided by Gareth Thomas,
Minister of State, to a question by Vincent Cable MP. Mr Cable's
question asked if the confidential dossier drawn up by his
Department making the case for waiving competition law in evidence
to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in December 2008 still existed
in electronic and paper form. Mr Thomas's reply indicated that the
"great majority" of the information had been "published in
accordance with the requirements of the Enterprise Act 2002". He
went on to say that some information had not been published, "in
accordance with the provisions in part 9 of the Enterprise Act
"which reflects the need to exclude from disclosure [so far as
practicable] :

"any information whose disclosure the authority thinks is contrary
to the public interest;

"commercial information whose disclosure the authority thinks might
significantly harm the legitimate business interests of the
undertaking to which it relates;

"information relating to the private affairs of an individual whose
disclosure the authority thinks might significantly harm the
individual's interests."

I request to know:

If the "great majority" of the information was published, what
precise proportion or percentage remains unpublished?

[It would naturally be helpful to know where the published
information may be identified.]

Of the three reasons given for not releasing that information,
which apply? All three? a combination of which two? or just one?
And which is the main reason?

Might it be at all possible to filter out and release any
information at all from the unreleased body?

If it were the case that ths answer to this has already been
expanded upon elsewhere, it would be helpful to be directed to that
information.

Yours faithfully,

C Harris

Dear Sir or Madam,

I would be grateful for your response to my request under the
Freedom of Information Act for information and clarification
concerning the question put by Vincent Cable MP regarding a
"secret" file or dossier on the Lloyds-TSB / HBOS merger. The
response, by law, needed to be prompt and no later than May 11th,
which is now past.

Yours sincerely,

C Harris

Dear Sir or Madam,

I would be grateful for your response to my request under the
Freedom of Information Act for information and clarification
concerning the question put by Vincent Cable MP regarding a
"secret" file or dossier on the Lloyds-TSB / HBOS merger. The
response, by law, needed to be prompt and no later than May 11th,
which is now past.

Yours sincerely,

C Harris