Dear Sir or Madam,

please provide me with all information held by House of Commons
authorities, especially but not limited to the Office of the
Speaker, with regards to the arrest of Mr Damian Green MP and to
the search of his office in the Palace of Westminster.

Furthermore, in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/polit... a statement
of the speaker's office is quoted as "There is a process to be
followed and that was followed." Please provide me with all
information and records you possess on this process in general and
on how it was applied in the specific instance of Mr Green's case.

If any written correspondence between House authorities (including
the Speaker) and the Metropolitan Police or other agencies exists
which concerns this case, I would like to request access to it too.

Furthermore, I wish to ask whether a written authorisation of the
search of Mr Green's office exists which has been signed by the
Speaker or another member of the House staff. Authorisation in this
context refers to any document, letter or part of such document or
letter that explicitly or implicitly gives the Metropolitan Police
the permission to enter the premises of Parliament and conduct a
search there. "Explicit or implicit" permission includes a letter
or other document that simply refers to legal provisions eg. by
outlining why a specific permission is not necessary.

Please note that my most comprehensive request is stated by and in
the first paragraph, while the latter paragraphs merely try to
clarify in which documents I am especially interested but they do
not reduce the scope of the first request.

Yours faithfully,

Michael Bimmler

Dear Mr Bimmler,

Thank you for your email dated and received today (1st December 2008).

Your request will be dealt with promptly and a response will be provided
by 31 December 2008.

If you any queries about your request, please contact me.

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant

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Dear Mr Bimmler

Thank you for your request dated 1 December which is copied below. The
response follows:

The information you have requested in your paragraphs 1 to 3 is held by
the House but it is exempt from disclosure under section 34 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('FOIA') because an exemption is
required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges
of Parliament. Moreover this information is exempt under section
31(1)(g) because disclosure of this information would, or would be
likely to prejudice the exercise by the House of its functions under
section 31(2). Some the information you request is also exempt under
section 42 because it is legally privileged. Therefore your request is
refused.

In response to your paragraph 4 the Speaker's statement to the House on
3 December dealt with this matter. Accordingly, and by virtue of section
21 of FOIA the House is not obliged to disclose this information because
it is reasonably accessible by other means. Therefore your request is
refused.

You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the
House of Commons to conduct an internal review of this decision.
Requests for internal review should be addressed to: Freedom of
Information Officer, Department of Resources, House of Commons, London
SW1A 0AA or [House of Commons request email]. Please ensure that you specify the
nature of your complaint and any arguments or points that you wish to
make. If the decision to apply section 34 of the 2000 Act in respect of
your request is upheld by review, a certificate signed by the Speaker
may be issued. This certificate would provide conclusive evidence that
the exemption was required for the purpose described above.

_________________________________________________
Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security

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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 House of Commons's
handling of my FOI request 'Damian Green arrest'.

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

I believe that not all material is exempt and ask for a review.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Bimmler

Dear Mr Bimmler,

Thank you for your email dated and received today (22 December 2088) in
which you request an internal review. Our internal target for dealing
with reviews is thirty working days. We expect to let you know the
outcome by 5 February 2009.

Please contact me if you have any queries relating to your request.

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant
Information Rights and Information Security

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