Room 405
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
70 Whitehall
www.cabinet office.gov.uk
London, SW1A 2AS
GRAEME AMIS
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
FOI Reference:FOI327129
04/12/2018
Dear GRAEME AMIS
I refer to your request where you asked:
Please provide al copies of correspondence, both written and electronic, between the
Cabinet Office and the BBC regarding the HS2 project and HS2 Ltd. I do not require any
personal details of the writers or receivers of the correspondence, which may be
redacted as you see fit.
I must inform you that the Cabinet Office is unable to comply with your request. Section
12 of the Freedom of Information Act relieves public authorities of the duty to comply
with a request for information if the cost of dealing with it would exceed the appropriate
limit. The appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for central Government
this is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 31⁄2
working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, and
locating, retrieving and extracting it.
The reason that your request exceeds the cost limit is that relevant information could be
contained in very many files. Searching al those that might contain relevant information
to determine whether the Cabinet Office holds any information relevant to your request
wil exceed the appropriate limit laid down in the regulations. If you wish, you may refine
your request in order to bring the cost of determining whether the Cabinet Office holds
relevant information, locating, retrieving and extracting it, below the appropriate limit.
The period covered by your request is very long and one way to refine it would be to
narrow the period it covers but even a shorter period would require us to search many
files and would not be sufficient, on its own, to make it possible for us to comply with
your request within the appropriate limit. Bearing in mind that our records are classified
by broad subject areas, I consider that we wil not be able to carry out a search for
information unless you can relate the information you seek to a definite context such as
a particular policy or region or a notable event or initiative. I must also inform you that if
the Cabinet Office does hold any information, it may be subject to one or more of the
exemptions contained in the Freedom of Information Act.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request or wish
to request an internal review, you should write to:
Sharon Carter
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
You should note that the Cabinet Office wil not normal y accept an application for
internal review if it is received more than two months after the date that the reply was
issued.
If you are not content with the outcome of your internal review, you may apply directly to
the Information Commissioner for a decision. General y, the Commissioner cannot
make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by
Cabinet Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely
FOI Team
Cabinet Office