Ministry of Defence
Main Building
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
United Kingdom
Telephone:
+44 (0)20 7218 9000
Ref: FOI2019/02017
E-mail:
xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Mr Jonathon Douglas
request-552589-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
28 Feb 19
Dear Mr Jonathon Douglas
Dear Mr Douglas,
Thank you for your email of 14 February requesting the following information:
“Please could you provide me with a lists of the courses and their duration (preferably in
weeks) which are provided by the Joint Intelligence Training Group at Chicksands.”
I am treating your correspondence as a request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (FOIA).
Your request falls under the scope of Section 24(1) (National Security), and Section 26(1)(b)
(Defence) of the FOIA. Sections 24 and 26 are qualified exemptions and as such is subject to
public interest testing.
While there is a presumption towards disclosure under the Act where possible, and there may be
public interest in knowing what courses are available at the Joint Intelligence Training Group,
releasing such information would be prejudicial to the safeguarding of S24 National Security
because it would provide a comprehensive list of MOD's intelligence capabilities to potentially
hostile actors.
In addition, by publishing the list of courses our intelligence capability would be compromised as it
would reveal the intelligence capability the training courses teach and prejudice the capability,
effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces S26.
A public interest test has been conducted, and the balance of public interest is determined to lie in
withholding the information you requested. Providing such a list of intelligence courses revealing
subject and duration would prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces
and thereby be prejudicial to the safeguarding of national security. A level of prejudice for S26 has
been set at the lower level of ‘would be likely to’.
If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling
of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not
possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by
contacting the Information Rights Compliance Team, 1st Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall,
SW1A 2HB (e-mail xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xx). Please note that any request for an internal review must
be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has
come to an end.
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the
Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD internal
review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information
Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.ico.gov.uk.
Yours sincerely,
Joint Forces Command, Defence Intelligence Secretariat
