Information Services Directorate
Library
Mr/Ms. M Nutley
University of East Anglia
Norwich Research Park
Norwich NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom
Email: xxx@xxx.xx.xx
Tel: +44 (0) 1603 593 523
4 January 2012
Fax: +44 (0) 1603 591 010
Web: http://www.uea.ac.uk
Dear Mr/Ms. Nutley
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004 – INFORMATION
REQUEST (FOI_11-261; EIR_11-016)
Further to your request for information received on 15 December 2011, I have
consulted relevant units within the University and am writing to request clarification of
several aspects of your request. This request for clarification is in line with our
obligations under Regulation 9(2) of the EIR to provide advice and guidance to
requesters who may have formulated a request in too general a manner.
You requested “...all e-mails between the CRU and the IPCC”. The relationship
between this institution and the IPCC goes back to the creation of the IPCC in 1988
and the potential volume of material within which to search for these emails could be
quite great. Is there a specific date range of correspondence that you wish to view
(e.g. correspondence associated with the current fifth assessment report, AR5, falling
within the period 2009 to present)? A more restricted timeframe will hopefully
provide a response more focussed to your requirements, and will lessen the
possibility that the request might be rejected pursuant to Regulation 12(4)(c) as being
“...formulated in too general a manner...”.
We would also request some clarification as to what you mean when you refer to the
‘IPCC’. There are administrators employed by the IPCC that are located in a number
of sites (e.g. Bern, Geneva, Boulder, Colo.) who coordinate the activities of the IPCC.
There are also numerous contributing authors who could be considered as part of the
IPCC in a wider sense. How would you define the membership of the IPCC for the
purposes of this request – administrators, participants, both?
Additionally, both as administrators and participants, persons rotate in and out of
work related to IPCC activities. Are we correct to interpret your request as being
focused upon correspondence during their time associated with IPCC activities?
Finally, in order to further focus your request, is there any particular area, topic or
subject of correspondence that is of particular interest to you? A certain amount of
correspondence with the IPCC would be, for example, be strictly ‘administrative’ in
nature dealing with topics such travel and financial arrangements and may not be of
any particular interest to you.
I would advise that the wider the scope of the request, the greater the chance that it
may be rejected pursuant to Regulation 12(4)(c) as being “...formulated in too
general a manner...”, and it may well include material not of interest to yourself.
I trust this is to your satisfaction and look forward to your reply. If you have any
queries or concerns then please contact me at:
University of East Anglia
Norwich Research Park
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
Telephone: 01603 593 523
E-mail: xxx@xxx.xx.xx
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
www.ico.gov.uk
Please quote our reference given at the head of this letter in all correspondence.
Yours sincerely
David Palmer
Information Policy and Compliance Manager
University of East Anglia