learning supports for request handlers

Dear Sir or Madam,

On April 15, 2009 F. Irving made an FOI request to the Prime
Minister's Office.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/em...
The request is now overdue.

Please accept the following as a FOI request. For the period of
April 15, 2008 to July 19, 2009, please send me a list of the names
& dates of courses, seminars, or learning programs that employees
who have been assigned to handling F. Irving's request have
enrolled in. Amongst these employees please
include managers, supervisors, etc. who may be responsible or
delegating tasks.

Yours faithfully,

Mark

Dear Mr. Pigott,

Please don't put scare quotes around my name. I respond to either
Mark or Sir.

Since someone at the Prime Minster's Office did handle the request,
even if it was just to merge it with the request sent to the
Cabinet Office, please proceed with responding to my request of
July 19, 2009.

Yours faithfully,

Mark

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have read the document you provided. Thank you.

On page 1, the Information Commissioner wrote,

"A public authority is entitled to treat as invalid a request where
the real name of the applicant (whether an individual or a
corporate body) has not been used"

This is probably the reason you are saying my request is invalid.
However, the Information Commissioner also wrote on page 1 the
following,

"Where a public authority knows that a pseudonym has been used, as
a matter of good practice it should still consider the request, for
example where identity is not relevant and it is content to
disclose the"

Either the provided name is fictitious or incomplete (i.e., not
having provided a last name). Since the Information Commissioner
recognizes that it is good practice for public authorities to
accept requests made in the former form (i.e., fictitious) would
you assume the same recommendation would hold for requests in which
the last name of the applicant is not provided? After all, a
fictitious name is much more encompassing than an incomplete form.

Will you accept the Information Commissioner's guidance on good
practices and accept this request?

Yours faithfully,

Mark

Dear Mike, thank you for your continuing patience.

You have made an assumption. How do you know that Mark is my first
name and not a full pseudonym?

The Information Commissioner's Office writes:

"Where a public authority knows that a pseudonym has been used, as
a matter of good practice it should still consider the request, for
example where identity is not relevant and it is content to
disclose the"

The Information Commissioner is describing a "good practice" and
has offered it to the Prime Minister's Office. Am I correct to
write that you are disregarding the Information Commissioner's
suggestion? If so, could you tell me what the Prime Minister's
Office considers to be "good practice" in such situations?

Yours faithfully,

Mark