Forfeiture of honours

Michael McCarthy made this Freedom of Information request to Cabinet Office

The request was refused by Cabinet Office.

From: Michael McCarthy

23 April 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

I'd like to know if the honours forfeiture committee chaired by Sir
Gus O'Donnell has ever been asked, or decided of its own volition,
to consider whether honours should be forfeited by Lord Jeffrey
Archer (imprisoned for perjury) and Dame Shirley Porter (surcharged
over the Westminster Council "homes for votes" election scam), and
whether it did ever meet to discuss either of these individuals.

If so, I'd like to see the records of the discussions.

I'd also like to know if the committee has discussed, or has any
plans to discuss, the case of the former chairman of RBS, Sir Fred
Goodwin, and to see the records of any such discussions.

I'd also like to see a list of all the dates when the committee has
met, and the names of all the persons whose cases were discussed on
each occasion.

Yours etc.,
Michael McCarthy

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Cabinet Office

28 April 2009

CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI264737

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on
24/04/2009 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [1][Cabinet Office request email]

The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system
and for other lawful purposes.

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

References

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Cabinet Office

22 May 2009

Attachment doc 2009 05 22 07 27 14 364.pdf
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Mr McCarthy,

Attached is the response to your FOI request of 23 April 2009.

Regards

Marion Moore

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The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

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From: Michael McCarthy

22 May 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

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

I am writing to request the usual charade of a pointless internal
review of Cabinet Office's handling of my FOI request 'Forfeiture
of honours', one which will predictably find that all appropriate
procedures and legalities have been complied with.

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

Yours etc.,

Michael McCarthy

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Cabinet Office

2 June 2009

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Thank you for Internal Review request dated 22/05/2009. This is receiving
attention.

Kind Regards,

FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [1][Cabinet Office request email]

The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system
and for other lawful purposes.

show quoted sections

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

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Cabinet Office request email]

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From: Michael McCarthy

4 December 2009

Dear Cabinet Office,

On 22 May 2009 I wrote requesting an internal review of the Cabinet
Office's handling of my request for information relating to the
forfeiture of honours. The reply was that this request is being
attended to.

I am still waiting, over six months later. Evidently you also need
to hold an internal review of your internal review process.

Yours faithfully,

Michael McCarthy

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Cabinet Office

11 February 2010

Attachment 265688.pdf
509K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Please see the attached letter regarding your request for an internal
review.

Kind regards,

Zara Smart
PA to Sue Gray
Propriety & Ethics Team
Cabinet Office
Room 1.18
70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS

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Michael McCarthy left an annotation (11 February 2010)

Secrecy continues, owing to blanket exemptions from the FoI Act and, scandalously, the public are even prevented from knowing whether any discussion has taken place on withdrawing honours from disgraced persons like Shirley Porter or Fred Goodwin. (Still less, of course, does the public have any practical mechanism for insisting that honours are withdrawn in appropriate cases.)

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