Dear Sir or Madam,

Freedom of Information Act, 2000 and the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004

In accordance with the above act could you advise me which company
holds the current Graduation Photography contract and what is the
financial benefits to the University in terms of commission and
other related payments paid by the successful tendering company to
the University.

Yours faithfully,

S Whittaker

Dear Steve,

This is just to let you know that we have received your request and will
be processing it to respond to you by 16th June 2008, 20 working days
from receipt of the request.

Regards,
Rachael Maguire
Records Manager
London School of Economics

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Dear Mr Whittaker,

With reference to your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act, the School's response is below.

The contract for presentation ceremony photography is held by Success
Photography. The basis of the contract is that the LSE receives a flat
fee each year for the rights for student photography. The company sells
direct to students and their families.

While it is the School's policy to respond as fully as possible to
requests for information, it is not always able to do so. All refusals
must be justified by reference to an exemption from the obligation to
disclose the information specified in the FoI legislation. In this
instance, we have applied exemption no 43(2) to the exact figure for the
flat fee as this is commercially sensitive information. Section 43(2) is
a public interest test and in applying the test, we decided that
providing the exact figure would allow potential tenderers to bid at
that figure rather than providing figures which could be better value
for money for the School. As the School gets only a small amount of
funding from public sources, we need to maximise the income from other
sources which outweighed the public interest in the figure.

However, should you wish to appeal the decision, either contact me on
020 7955 6481 or put your appeal in writing to Jenny Bone, Head of
Secretary's Division, London School of Economics and Political Science,
Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE. We will then review the response to
your request and get back to you within 20 working days. You can also
contact the Information Commissioner's Office http://www.ico.gov.uk/,
though they expect the internal review to be carried out before
receiving a complaint directly

The other information you requested is enclosed. If you think that the
information provided does not match your request, contact us as detailed
above.

The provision of information by the LSE under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 does not imply a right to copy, reproduce publish or otherwise
use such information.

Copying or reproducing such information in any way either in whole or in
part without prior written consent may be an infringement of copyright
or other intellectual property right belonging to the LSE or a third
party.

Yours sincerely,
Rachael Maguire
Records Manager
London School of Economics

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