President-Prime Minister telephone conversations

Dear Sir or Madam,

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom
of Information Act.

From 27 June 2007 until 20 January 2009, how many telephone
conversations took place between the President of the United States
of America and the Prime Minister?

From 1 December 2005 until 27 June 2007, how many telephone
conversations took place between the President of the United States
of America and the Prime Minister?

I would appreciate two separate figures.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir or Madam,

In light of the projected cost of retrieving the information that I
have requested, I would therefore like to request simply the number
of telephone conversations that took place between the Prime
Minister and the President of the United States between 27 June
2007 and 20 January 2009.

I look forward to a prompt reply.

Yours sincerely,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir or Madam,

Can I remind you of the above information that I have requested
from you. I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir or Madam,

Can I please remind you that under Section 16 of the Freedom of
Information Act, you have a duty to provide advice and assistance
to any requests that I make. This response is long overdue, and
without a reply in the given time, the Prime Minister's Office is
breaking the law.

Will you please reply to my question as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir or Madam,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Prime Minister's
Office's handling of my FOI request 'President-Prime Minister
telephone conversations'.

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

My request was rejected because "a list giving the timings" of
conversations and the "details of all private discussions" would
not be on the right side of the public interest-'security' balance.
I would agree with this analysis, which is why I did not ask for
this information.

I asked merely for a figure; a figure that would reveal how many
times the Prime Minister and President of the United States had
spoken between 27 June 2007 and 20 January 2009. I requested
neither details of these conversations that took place, nor the
timings of such conversations. Merely a figure. Such a figure would
not "erode the basis of trust" between the Prime Minister and other
world leaders, and nor would it "affect the Prime Minister's
ability to promote the UK's interests abroad".

Furthermore, I would like you to review the reasoning behind the
rejection of my initial request, asking for the above information
as well as the number of times the Prime Minister and President of
the United States had spoken over the telephone between 1 December
2005 and 27 June 2007. This was rejected because it was estimated
that the cost of retrieving the information would be too much. I
fail to understand how obtaining two separate figures would cost
over £600.

I am sure that, when you look at the history of my Freedom of
Information request, you will also agree that the time that it has
taken to respond to my requests has been far from adequate, and I
hope you will also review this.

I look forward to receiving from you a prompt reply.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir/Madam,

Can I please remind you that it is over two months since I
requested this internal review. I would appreciate a reply being
sent to me extremely soon.

Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Dear Sir or Madam,

It is now nearly four months since I requested a review, and over
month since I sent a follow-up message to request information. Can
I ask that I am sent a reply within the next week, dealing with my
requests, or at least an explanation as to the reasons for delay.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge