Legacy cases

Dear Mr Jones

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000

The reference number for your request is 14411

Regards
Freedom of Information Team
UKBA

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Dear Mr Jones

Thank you for your email of 19 March 2010 where you have requested
information about briefing documents provided to the Chief Executive of
the UK Border Agency. This falls to be dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

Section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act provides that a public
authority need not comply with a request for information unless any
further information reasonably required to identify and locate the
information is supplied. I am unclear about the exact scope of the
information in which you are interested. To ensure that we provide you
with the right information, please could you clarify your request, so
that we can process your request. This might include, for instance,
clarification over the types of briefing you are interested in. The
title of your email mentions legacy cases and I would be grateful if you
could clarify if you are only interested in briefings related to legacy
cases or all briefings received on any subject. If possible, please
could you also clarify what you mean by a briefing document?

When you provide this information we will aim to send you a full
response to your request within twenty working days of its receipt. I
look forward to hearing from you shortly. However, please note that if I
do not receive appropriate clarification of your request within three
months from the date of this letter, I will consider this request to be
closed.

Yours sincerely,

Lisa Vernon
Head of Boards, Briefing and Correspondence
Chief Executive's Office
UK Border Agency
1st Floor Seacole
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
020 7035 0187
[email address]

From: Mr Jones [mailto: [FOI #31089 email]]
Sent: 19 March 2010 11:36 AM
To: Freedom Of Information Team ( IND )
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Legacy cases

Dear UK Border Agency,

I would like to make a request, under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, for the titles of all briefing documents received by Lin
Homer, the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency, in December
2009.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Jones

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Dear Mr Jones

I am writing further to your e-mail of 24 March, about your request for a list of briefing documents prepared for the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency in December. Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Under section 12 of the Act, the Home Office is not obliged to comply with an information request where to do so would exceed the cost limit.

We have estimated that the cost of meeting your request would exceed the cost limit of £600 specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. We are therefore unable to comply with it.

The £600 limit is based on work being carried out at a rate of £25 per hour, which equates to 24 hours of work per request. The cost of locating, retrieving and extracting information and preparing the response can be included in the costs for these purposes. The costs do not include considering whether any information is exempt from disclosure, overheads such as heating or lighting, or items such as photocopying or postage.

Owing to the large volume of briefing material that is prepared for the Chief Executive (in excess of 10,000 documents a month), compiling the list you have asked for would exceed this limit.

If you refine your request, so that it is more likely to fall under the cost limit, we will consider it again. It would be helpful if you could specify further if there is a particular area of the UK Border Agency policy or business you are interested in.

Please note that if you simply break your request down into a series of similar smaller requests, we might still decline to answer it if the total cost exceeds £600.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address below, quoting reference 14472. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.

The Deputy Director
UK Border Agency
Freedom of Information Team
11th Floor
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
Croydon CR9 2BY

If you could refine your request as we have suggested above and so that it is more likely to fall under the cost limit, we will consider it again.

Yours sincerely

Lisa Vernon
Head of Boards, Briefing and Correspondence
Chief Executive's Office
UK Border Agency
1st Floor Seacole
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
[email address]

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