Devolution procedures

Mr Wyllie made this Freedom of Information request to Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The request was partially successful.

From: Mr Wyllie

1 January 2010

Dear Sir or Madam,

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please provide information about the FCO's procedures over
interaction with the devolved administrations in the United
Kingdom.

Such information should extend to current copies of policies and
procedures concerning the exchange of information and personnel,
and correspondence since 1st January 2007 between the FCO and the
Scotland Office and Wales Office about interaction between those
nations' devolved administrations.

I am very grateful for your assistance, and look forward to your
response.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

4 January 2010

Dear Mr Wyllie

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 04 January 2010 and will aim to respond within 20 working days.

Yours Sincerely

Scott Macdonald
Information Management Group
Information Rights Team

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From: Alistair.Starling

7 January 2010

Dear Mr Wyllie,

Thank you for your recent FOI Enquiry.

As the FCO's Devolved Administration and Regional Stakeholder Manager, I
will be responding to your FOI Request Ref: 0003-10 on: "information and
personnel, and correspondence since 1st January 2007 between the FCO and
the Scotland Office and Wales Office about interaction between those
nations' devolved administrations".

We should be able to provide you with various documents which explain the
"FCO's procedures over interaction with the devolved administrations in
the United Kingdom", such as are contained in our staff guidance.

However, to collate the "information and personnel, and correspondence
since 1st January 2007", it is likely that we will exceed the
disproportionate cost limit of £600. So that we can also assist you with
this part of your enquiry, it may be helpful if you were able to narrow
this down, for example to information about our regular interactions with
the Scotland Office and Wales Office, over a shorter time period (e.g. the
past year).

I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Yours sincerely,

[sent UNCLASSIFIED whilst working remotely on 07/01/10]
Alistair Starling
Devolved Administration and Regional Stakeholder Manager
Stakeholder Engagement Team - Corporate Communication Group
Communication Directorate
Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH
Tel: +44(0)20 7008 3846 Email: [email address]

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From: Mr Wyllie

7 January 2010

Dear Mr Starling,

Freedom of Information request
Your Ref: 0003-10

I am very grateful for your response to me regarding my Freedom of
Information request.

I understood from your response you could obtain policies and
procedures about interaction, including staff transfer.

However, you asked me for some clarification about correspondence I
wish from the FCO. I do hope this is a correct interpretation of
your email.

I am happy to provide the clarification: please consider that
latter part of my request confined to correspondence with the
Scotland Office only that took place since 1st June 2008 concerning
interactions between the FCO and the Devolved Administration.

I have considered your request to reduce the time scope of my
request, and have done so. However, given you indicate
correspondence with both the Wales and Scotland Office would be
likely only to go back one year, I have felt able to keep the
search period somewhat longer than one year, given only one
Department is now involved in this part of my request.

Thank you again for the speed of your response and willingness to
help, and I look forward very much to your response. Please don't
hesitate to get respond if you need further clarification.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wyllie

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

27 January 2010

Attachment UNC 2010 01 27 Ref 0003 10 Mr Wyllie.doc
66K Download View as HTML

Attachment UNC 2010 01 12 Regular FCO interaction with the TOs and DAs.doc
35K Download View as HTML

Attachment UNC 2010 01 12 FCO working with the DAs.doc
74K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Wyllie,

Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request,
Ref: 0003-10 (three documents attached).

Yours sincerely,
Alistair.

Alistair Starling
Devolved Administration and Regional Stakeholder Manager
Stakeholder Engagement Team - Corporate Communication Group
Communication Directorate
Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH
Tel: +44(0)20 7008 3846 Email: [1][email address]

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
3. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/

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From: Mr Wyllie

27 January 2010

Dear Mr Starling,

Many thanks for your response.

Given there's no central record of correspondence, I understand the
reason for your decision to refuse the Scotland and Wales Office
element of my request, and can confirm I won't be applying for an
internal review of it.

Thanks again for your help - it's much appreciated.

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

27 January 2010

Thank you for your message. I have taken up a new role and no longer work in Stakeholder Engagement Team. Lynne Rocks, my successor, will be joining the team on 1 March 2010. Until that time, please use the following contact numbers to find out who you should redirect your message to:

For general stakeholder engagement enquiries: +44 (0)20 7008 6513
For PQs or FOI Requests: +44 (0)20 7008 3637
For 'Bringing Foreign Policy Home' enquiries: +44 (0)20 7008 3201
For issues regarding the Devolved Administrations/Devolution: +44 (0)20 7008 6514

Please note that your message has not been forwarded.

If your message is personal, I will be on secondment to industry for the next few months, so please contact me at:

Alistair Starling
The Cambridge Hub
+44 (0)7973 153444
[email address]

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