Area 4A, Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
T: 03459 33 55 77
xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
SW1P 3JR
www.gov.uk/defra
Mr Allan Richards
By email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our ref:
RFI
9639
7 March 2018
Dear Mr Richards
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Canal & River Trust Proposal for Transfer of EA
Navigations Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 10 January 2018,
requesting a copy of the Canal & River Trust’s proposal of 17 October for the transfer of
EA navigations and related correspondence. As you know, we are handling your request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
We are writing to advise you that the time limit for responding to your request for
information under the FOIA needs to be extended.
The FOIA allows us 20 working days to respond to your request from the date that we
received it. However, section 10(3) of the FOIA provides that, where we have to consider
the balance of the public interest in relation to a qualified exemption that applies to the
requested information, we can extend the 20-working-day time limit for issuing a response
until such time as is reasonable in the circumstances.
In this case, we regret that we must extend the time limit for responding by a further 20
days because the information requested is being considered under one of the FOIA’s
exemptions to which the public interest test applies. This means that we need to assess
whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, and some extra time
is needed to determine this.
The particular qualified exemption we are considering in relation to your request is section
43 (commercial interests) of the FOIA.
We hope to let you have a response by 9 April 2018, and will keep you informed of any
further delay.
We attach an annex giving contact details should you be unhappy with the service you
have received.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact the address below.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Shotton
EIRs/FOI Case Officer
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
Annex
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request you may
make a complaint or appeal against our decision under section 17(7) of the FOIA or under
regulation 18 of the EIRs, as applicable, within 40 working days of the date of this letter.
Please write to Nick Teall, Head of Information Rights, Area 4A, Nobel House, 17 Smith
Square, London, SW1P 3JR (email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx) and he will
arrange for an internal review of your case. Details of Defra’s complaints procedure are on
ou
r website. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, section 50 of the FOIA and
regulation 18 of the EIRs gives you the right to apply directly to the Information
Commissioner for a decision. Please note that generally the Information Commissioner
cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted Defra’s own complaints
procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF