Co-operative in names

MJ Ray made this Freedom of Information request to Companies House

The request was partially successful.

From: MJ Ray

28 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to you to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

How many companies have been incorporated with the word
"co-operative" in their name in the last few years and how many
have been refused approval for the word "co-operative"?

By "the last few years", I mean whatever period of time greater
than a year is the easiest.

I am interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents. I would be grateful if you could
confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Thank you in advance for your help with this request.

Yours faithfully,

MJ Ray

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From: Jan Lumsden
Companies House

28 August 2009

Dear Mr Ray

With reference to your email dated 28/08/09. The Information Rights Team
are dealing with your request and a response will be sent as soon as
possible.

Yours sincerely

Mrs J Lumsden
Information Rights Team

This message and any attachments are intended for the persons named as
addressees only and may contain confidential information. In addition they
may be protected by copyright.

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From: Jan Lumsden
Companies House

14 September 2009

Dear Mr Ray

With reference to your email dated 28 August 2009 where you have requested
statistics on how many companies have been incorporated with the word
"co-operative" in their name in the last few years and how many have been
refused approval for the word "co-operative"?

With regard to the first part of your request, if I may explain that
Companies House produces a DVD Rom which contains basic company details on
over 2 million live companies registered in England, Scotland and Wales
along with companies that have been dissolved in the last month. The DVD
Rom has a built in search facility which will allow you to ascertain how
many companies have been registered with the word "co-operative".

The cost of a single copy of the DVD Rom Directory is £30.00. If you
wish to purchase a DVD Rom Directory you can do so by telephoning the
Companies House Contact Centre on (0)303 1234 500.

Unfortunately I am unable to provide this DVD Rom free of charge as under
section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act any information that is
reasonably accessible to the applicant, albeit on payment of a fee, is
exempt information under the Act.

With regard to the second part of your request, unfortunately I must
inform you that I am unable to provide you with statistics on how many
companies have been refused approval for the word "co-operative" as we do
not collate information on applications for company names that have been
refused.

Your request has been considered under the Freedom of Information
legislation. I am required therefore to inform you that if you are
unhappy with the result of your request for information you may request an
internal review within two calendar months of the date of this email. Any
requests for such a review should be addressed, in the first instance to
me at the above address, and I will ensure that it is forwarded to a
senior member of Companies House who has had no previous involvement in
this case and they will undertake the review.

If you are then not content with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at; Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

Yours sincerely

Mrs J Lumsden

Information Rights Team

This message and any attachments are intended for the persons named as
addressees only and may contain confidential information. In addition they
may be protected by copyright.

If you receive it in error, notify us, delete it and do not make use of or
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publish this message, except for the purposes for which this message is
intended, without our consent.

Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that
Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communications medium. We advise that
you understand and accept this lack of security when e-mailing us.

For company information, guidance and how to file documents online, please
see our website [1]www.companieshouse.gov.uk.

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From: MJ Ray

14 September 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Companies House's
handling of my FOI request 'Co-operative in names'.

I am dissatisfied by the response because the section 21 exemption
is not triggered by the availability on sale of the DVD-ROM. It is
not reasonable to require me to purchase a copy of the whole DVD to
satisfy a request that is only for a small amount of the
information contained in it: in this request, one number. Almost
this exact situation is used in section B of Freedom of Information
Act Awareness Guidance No 6 issued by the Information
Commissioner's Office in January 2006 as an example of when section
21 exemption does not apply because the access method is not
reasonable for the request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...

I thank you for your attention and await your review with interest.

Yours faithfully,

MJ Ray

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MJ Ray left an annotation (14 September 2009)

The guidance is available online at http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

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From: Jan Lumsden
Companies House

16 September 2009

Dear Mr Ray

With reference to your email requesting an internal review of our decision
made under the Freedom of Information Act. I will now ask a senior member
of Companies House to undertake a review of this case and he will respond
directly to you.

Yours sincerely

Mrs J Lumsden
Information Rights Team

This message and any attachments are intended for the persons named as
addressees only and may contain confidential information. In addition they
may be protected by copyright.

If you receive it in error, notify us, delete it and do not make use of or
copy it. You must not copy, disseminate or otherwise distribute or
publish this message, except for the purposes for which this message is
intended, without our consent.

Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that
Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communications medium. We advise that
you understand and accept this lack of security when e-mailing us.

For company information, guidance and how to file documents online, please
see our website [1]www.companieshouse.gov.uk.

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From: Jan Lumsden
Companies House

9 October 2009

Attachment Mr M J Ray Response to Internal Review.doc
30K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Ray,

Attached is the Companies House response to your internal review request,
which has been undertaken by Mr Moss, Director of Corporate Strategy.

Yours sincerely

Mrs J Lumsden
Information Rights Team

This message and any attachments are intended for the persons named as
addressees only and may contain confidential information. In addition they
may be protected by copyright.

If you receive it in error, notify us, delete it and do not make use of or
copy it. You must not copy, disseminate or otherwise distribute or
publish this message, except for the purposes for which this message is
intended, without our consent.

Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that
Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communications medium. We advise that
you understand and accept this lack of security when e-mailing us.

For company information, guidance and how to file documents online, please
see our website [1]www.companieshouse.gov.uk.

This message has been scanned for viruses by [2]Hosted Security, a service
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John Cross left an annotation ( 9 October 2009)

As at the end of July there were 1,286 companies on the register with `co-operative' in their name. You may also wish to note that there were an additional 56 companies with `cooperative' in their name.

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John Cross left an annotation ( 9 October 2009)

My last annotation was a quote from the response.

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MJ Ray left an annotation (10 October 2009)

Also quote: "The figures for the companies that were incorporated within the last 3 years, and are still live, are 114 for `co-operative' and 14 for `cooperative'."

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From: MJ Ray

10 October 2009

Dear Jan Lumsden,

Thank you for your reply of 9 October containing the response by Mr
Moss.

Because the purchase requirement is not reasonable, I still do not
believe that the section 21 exemption could apply.

However, I thank Companies House for providing the numbers and I
have no interest in investigating the applicability further at this
time.

Yours sincerely,

MJ Ray

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Steve Macey left an annotation (26 November 2009)

Please explain Why They have Had CCJ's Registered Against them Mr CompHouse if they aren't trading as companies, come on were not all stupid.

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MJ Ray left an annotation (26 November 2009)

What CCJs? Just reread the last response and don't see it.

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