Sponsorship from Access Industries

I am away from the Gallery for one year on secondment, returning in November 2009. If your query is urgent, please contact Robin Francis, Head of Archive & Library ([email address]).

Thank you for your enquiry which has been received by the Heinz Archive & Library at the National Portrait Gallery.

If you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please can you re-direct it to [email address]. It will be answered within 20 working days of receipt.

If your enquiry is not a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 it will be answered as part of the general portrait enquiry service provided by the Archive & Library. At the present time we are aiming to respond to enquiries within 15 working days. Please note, however, that we are unable to respond to enquiries that relate to foreign portraiture or aspects of art unrelated to portraiture; or to provide advice concerning valuations; or answers to competition, crossword puzzle and quiz questions. For enquiries relating to these subjects we would recommend you contact your nearest public reference library in the first instance to identify appropriate sources for such information.

Yours sincerely

Robin Francis
Head of Archive and Library
National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place
London WC2H 0HE
Tel: 020 7312 2410
Fax: 020 7306 0056
www.npg.org.uk

Dear Mr Volynchook

Thank you for your e-mailed request for information, which we will respond to within twenty working days of the day on which it was sent. You should therefore receive our reply by 28 January 2009.

Yours sincerely

Robin Francis

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Dear Mr Volynchook,

I am writing in response to the request you made under the Freedom of
Information Act in your email of 30 December for the amount of sponsorship
money to be received by the National Portrait Gallery from Access
Industries for the Portrait Gala in March 2009.

As the Gallery is still fund-raising for the Portrait Gala in March 2008 I
am afraid we cannot release the information you have requested at the
present time. Premature disclosure could potentially discourage further
giving and so undermine the effectiveness of the ongoing fund-raising
campaign for this event and future sponsor relationships with the
Gallery.

The information you have requested is therefore exempt from disclosure
under Section 43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which
provides that information is exempt information if its disclosure under
this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests
of any person (including the public authority holding it). This exemption
applies on the basis that premature release of the requested information
would prejudice the Gallery's commercial interests, i.e. weaken its
position to raise funds in connection with the Portrait Gala.

Exemptions made under Section 43 of the Act are subject to a public
interest test and we have therefore considered the public interest in
disclosure as well as in maintaining closure. The Gallery is a public and
national institution and, as such, the public has a legitimate interest in
its activities, including its sponsorship activities. There may also be
public interest in disclosure in as much as it would increase public
awareness of the Gallery's dependence on self-generated income (in 2007-8
grant-in-aid from Government represented only 42% of total income received
by the Gallery). In recognition of this public interest, the Gallery
already publishes a list of sponsors and figures for self-generated income
in its Annual Review.

The Gallery generated 58% of its total income in 2007-8 through its own
activities, including generous support received from sponsors, and this
income is crucial to sustaining the breadth and quality of the Gallery's
activities, which are undertaken for the public benefit. From this it
follows there is a public interest in ensuring the Gallery continues to
generate the necessary income to support these activities. Any disclosure
that might undermine income-generation would have a detrimental impact on
the Gallery's ability to meet its statutory requirements as a public
institution and to carry out its public programmes. On balance,
therefore, we believe the public interest test falls in favour of ensuring
the Gallery does not compromise its fund-raising ability by releasing
commercially sensitive information prematurely.

Under the terms of the Act, I am required to inform you of our appeals
procedure in case you are not satisfied with the above response. A copy
of our public leaflet on Freedom of Information, which advises you how to
appeal to the Gallery and of your right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner, can be found on the Gallery website at:
[1]http://www.npg.org.uk/live/freedominfo.asp.

Yours sincerely

Robin Francis

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