From: Mrs S Gardiner
Ministry of Defence
Main Building (Ground Floor, Zone D
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
United Kingdom
Telephone [MOD] +44 (0)20 721 89000
Email:
xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Head - Information Rights Team
FOI2020/13567 and various requests
Mr Justin Zacchi
Via email to 20 ‘WhatDoTheyKnow.com’ email addresses
17th February 2021
Dear Mr Zacchi
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INTERNAL REVIEW
1.
I am writing in response to your email of 12 December 2020 in which you requested an
internal review of the handling of your request titled ‘Royal Corps of Signals information’ which
was made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’) and is available on the
WhatDoTheyKnow (WDTK) website. Your email stated that you were not ‘
working with
anyone else with regard to my interest in the RCS’. The purpose of the internal review is to
consider whether the requirements of the Act have been fulfilled, and its scope is defined by
Part 5 of the Code of Practice1 under section 45 of the Act.
Handling
2.
In conducting my review of the handling of your requests, I have focussed on the
following requirements of the Act:
a.
Section 1(1)(a) which, subject to certain exclusions, gives any person making a
request for information to a public authority the entitlement to be informed in writing
by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in
the request;
b.
Section 1(1)(b) which, subject to certain exemptions, creates an entitlement to
receive the information held by the public authority;
c.
Section 10(1) which states that, subject to certain provisions allowing extensions of
time, the public authority must comply with the requirements of Section 1(1)
promptly, and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the
date of receipt;
d.
Section 12(1) which states that section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to
comply with a request for information where the cost of compliance exceeds the
appropriate limit;
1 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/744071/CoP_FOI_Code_of_Practice_-
_Minor_Amendments_20180926_.pdf
1
e.
Section 12(4) which states that where two or more requests for information made
to the public authority by one person or by different persons acting in concert or in
pursuance of a campaign the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests
is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them; and
f.
Section 16(1) where it is the duty of a public authority to provide advice and
assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do so, to
persons who propose to make, or have made, request for information to it.
3.
Your request of 9 December 20202 was received on the same day and was worded as
follows:
‘1) Is 8 Engineer Brigade's CIS Troop part of the Royal Engineers or Royal
Signals, and could you provide their current location
2) Does 38th (Irish) Brigade and the SIG have a separate signal troop, or just RCS
personnel attached to their HQ?
3) Could you clarify the following; is 13 Signal Regiment due to move to 1 ISR Bde
in the future? Or will it remain under 1 Signal Brigade? According to this FOI(A):
Army/Sec/21/02/FOI2019/06365, 13 Signal Regiment was due to come under
1 ISR Bde.
4) Could you advise if the ARRC Military Police Battalion is still active, and could
you confirm this battalion is under 1 (UK) Signal Bde?’
4.
In accordance with section 10(1) of the Act, a substantive response to your request was
provided promptly on 10 December 2020. However, you were advised that MOD had received
15 requests from you on the subject of ‘organisations and locations’ in the last 60 working
days. You were informed that 4 similar requests which had also been received in that
timeframe were known or suspected to have come from individuals with whom you were
working ‘in concert’. A list of the requests was provided. Section 12(4) was applied to refuse
your request, and all others listed within the response. You were advised that any future
requests on the same subject could also be aggregated if they were received within 60
working days.
5.
In addition, you were advised that the Department is permitted to regard the estimated
cost of complying with any of the requests to be the estimated total cost of complying with all
of them for the purpose of considering whether compliance would exceed the appropriate
limit. Some advice was provided under section 16 to explain that it was likely that any further
requests on this subject may be exempt under section 26 (defence) of the Act. The right of
appeal was correctly provided.
6.
In summary, your request was handled in accordance with the statutory timeliness
requirements under section 10(1) of the Act.
7.
Some further correspondence and annotations were added to some of your requests on
the WDTK website. I have not repeated these in full, but I have included notes as appropriate
in the Annexes.
Substance
8.
My review has confirmed that you have raised a series of requests to the MOD in a
relatively short period of time on a specific topic. For ease, I have reproduced these requests
at the Annexes to this review. I have, therefore, concentrated on the Department’s application
of section 12(4) of the Act to refuse to process your requests.
2
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/royal_corps_of_signals_informati
2
Use of section 12(4) (aggregation of related requests and acting in concert)
9.
The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 20043 prescribe the circumstances in which requests may be aggregated for the
purposes of section 12 (exceeding the cost of compliance) of the Act and state that two or
more requests to one public authority can be aggregated for the purposes of calculating costs
if they:
(a) are by one person, or
(b) are different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in
pursuance of a campaign;
(c) relate, to any extent, to the same or similar information; and
(d) are received by the public authority within any period of sixty consecutive working
days.
10. For (a), I am satisfied that the requests listed at the Annexes were submitted by one
person, namely yourself, and so the first criterion is met.
11. For (c) above, I can advise that this criterion allows for the aggregation of requests
where they relate “to any extent” to the “same or similar information”, which is a wide test. The
Information Commissioner has stated that requests will be similar where there is an
overarching theme or common thread running between them in terms of the nature of the
information requested4. I am satisfied that all of your requests contain the common thread of
information about ‘
MOD’s organisational structure including locations, roles and
appointments’.
12. For (d), I am satisfied that 15 requests which were listed in the Army’s response were
received from you in a period of 60 consecutive working days. These are listed again at
Annex A (Nos 1-15). The Department is allowed to take into account requests that were
received 60 days backwards from the date of receipt of your request. The Department was,
therefore, entitled to consider all your requests received between 15 September and 9
December when aggregating. I have, therefore, included one further request (No. 16) that
could also have been included for aggregation purposes. It should also be noted that to
process requests where the response sought your identity could also be aggregated as they
were received within the same period and on the same or similar subject.
13. Furthermore, the ICO’s guidance indicates that the aggregation period can run up to 20
days ‘forward’ from the date of any single request and 40 days backwards. The total
aggregation period, (running either forwards or backwards or a combination of both) from the
date of any single request must not exceed 60 working days.
14. For (b) above, I note that under section 8(1)(b)5, MOD has previously found it necessary
to enquire about your identity which is permitted where there is any doubt that a real name
has not been stated when a request for information is submitted. The ICO’s guidance also
states that ‘
a requester’s true identity can be relevant i.e. where an authority is considering
aggregating the cost of requests or refusing a request as vexatious or repeated’.
15. Requests 18-20 as listed at Annex A are those for which you were asked to supply
identification. I note that you provided your identification on 3 November 2020, which then
allowed the Department to continue to process your requests.
3
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244/introduction/made
4
https://ico.org.uk/media/1199/costs_of_compliance_exceeds_appropriate_limit.pdf
5 Information Rights letter dated 2 November 2020 - FOI2020/12052, FOI2020/12053 and FOI2020/12100
3
16. In this case, I have heeded the advice of officials within the Department who have
provided strong evidence, such as similarities between requests and those purporting to be
from other individuals, to support the view that you could be acting in concert with other
requesters or in pursuance of a campaign. However, I find that there is currently no
conclusive proof to indicate that you are collaborating with others on this subject matter. MOD
will, however, continue to monitor the situation. Should more compelling evidence of
collaboration be identified, MOD will reconsider its position with regard to any future requests.
17. Taking all these factors into consideration, I am satisfied that your requests fully meet
the criteria for aggregation as outlined at (a), (c) and (d) above and the Department is able to
aggregate the requests in accordance with section 12(4) of the Act and the associated
regulations, as they all relate to the overarching theme or common thread which concern
‘MOD’s organisational structure including locations, roles and appointments’.
18. I will now consider whether compliance with any of the requests would exceed the cost
limit and whether section 12(1) applies.
Section 12(1) (exceeding the appropriate cost limit)
19. Section 12(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request if the authority
estimates that the cost of complying with it exceeds the appropriate limit which for Central
Government departments is set at £600. This represents the cost of one person spending 3.5
working days or 24 hours of staff effort in determining whether MOD holds information in the
scope of a request, and then to locate, retrieve and extract it.
20. In other words, where a public authority has estimated that a request (or aggregated
requests) will exceed the cost limit, it is not obliged to carry out any searches for relevant
information meeting the description of a request. For the exemption at section 12(1) to be
correctly applied to all your requests, it is necessary for the cost of compliance in handling
one or more of the requests to exceed the appropriate limit.
21. I can confirm that the section 12 activities conducted to process your requests have not
individually exceeded the appropriate cost limit. However, the staff effort involved in
responding to each of your requests has varied from 1.5 to 14 hours. For example, I can
advise that the estimated staff effort involved in locating, retrieving and extracting the
information that meets the description of the first three requests listed in Annex A collectively
would exceed the cost limit and section 12 applies.
22. The Department is, therefore, permitted to regard the estimated cost of complying with
any of the requests to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them for the purpose
of considering whether compliance would exceed the appropriate limit.
Section 16 (advice and assistance)
23. Under section 16 of the Act, it is the duty of a public authority to help persons who
propose to make, or have made, requests for information.
24. In cases where requests have been aggregated, it is normal practice to advise the
requester on how they might refine or reduce their request. I note that the Army Secretariat
did inform you that you should refine your request but did not provide any specific advice on
how you may do this.
25. In cases similar to yours, where an individual has submitted multiple, overlapping
requests to the Department on the same or similar topic, the requester would normally be
advised to select one of the requests which had been refused following aggregation under
section 12(4) to be processed as a refined request.
4
26. However, I note that you raised further requests (numbers 1-11 listed at Annex B) after
the Army’s response of 10 December was issued. One of these requests, received by MOD
on 24 December 2020, was logged as a fresh request under FOI2020/13983. It sought
information about the structure of the RAF Regiment and a response was issued by Air
Command, on behalf of MOD on 7 January 2021.
27. A second request (reference FOI2020/13568)6, submitted on 9 December, sought
information on the structure of the RAF Cadet organisation. On 24 December, your email
stated that you had ‘Found the information’. On the same day, the Information Rights team
asked you to confirm if you wished to withdraw this request or for MOD to continue to process
it. MOD did not receive any confirmation, but I note that it appears that the status of the
request on WDTK had been updated to reflect that it had been withdrawn. However, it should
be noted that any annotations or request status updates on the WDTK website are not
received by a public authority. This request was, therefore, processed by Air Command and a
response was provided on 12 January 2021. I find that this request could have been
aggregated in the Army’s response. It was eventually included in the list of those aggregated
under section 12(4) in the refusal notice issued by Navy Command on 12 January 2021.
28. As these requests were fulfilled after the issue of the Army’s refusal notice, I find that it is
reasonable for them to have been treated as new refined requests for further processing
within the cost limit. I have, therefore, concluded that MOD is unable to offer any further
refinements.
29. In order for the Department to manage the administrative burden of numerous requests
being received from you on the same or similar subject, MOD would be within its rights to
aggregate any further new requests. Consequently, the Department would not be obliged to
comply under the section 12(4) provisions as explained in this review. As noted previously,
the total aggregation period (running either forwards or backwards or a combination of both)
from the date of any single request must not exceed 60 working days.
30. I note that you submitted two new requests that were received on 25 January 2021
(logged under FOI2021/00781 and FOI2021/00779) and a further one which was received on
12 February 2021 (logged under FOI2021/01662). These requests are listed at at Annex B It
should be noted that MOD is allowed to aggregate these requests under section 12(4) with
the previous ones that relate to the same or similar subject and have been received within 60
consecutive days. Therefore, they will not be processed at this time and will be closed with
this review.
31. It has been estimated that the date at which you will be able to submit a request on the
topic of ‘
MOD’s organisational structure including locations, roles and appointments’
without any possibility of the effort of processing it to be aggregated with the handling of any
other requests that you have submitted to the department would be 24 March 2021. This
represents 60 working days since the receipt of the last request (i.e. 24 December 2020)
which has been formally processed under the Act.
32. It should be noted that all requests that are currently open as listed at the Annexes will
be closed as part of this review.
Information requests framed as questions
33. Some of your requests have been raised in the form of questions. Information requests
framed as questions pose particular processing difficulties under the Act, because the scope
is limited to an entitlement to recorded information held by a public authority at the time the
request is received. Although the Act does not specifically state that the "held" information will
be restricted to "recorded" information, the Information Commissioner has confirmed that the
information "held at the time the request is made" will be limited to "recorded information".
6 https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/raf_cadet_wings
5
MOD is also not obliged to create or compile information in the form of a list to answer your
questions or give a judgement or opinion in response to hypothetical questions.
Requests for information that has already been published
34. I note that several of your requests appear to ask the Department to provide you with
links to information that may already have been published. I also note that you have raised
requests and then withdrawn them because you have found the information through other
means before they could be processed in full. This behaviour presents an administrative
burden across several business units within the Department. I would encourage you to
attempt to conduct your own searches for the relevant information on the gov.uk and Armed
Forces7 websites etc, prior to making a request for recorded information to the Department.
35. Where information has already been published and could be found easily (for example
through a simple internet search) MOD could rely on the absolute exemption at section 21
(information reasonably accessible to the application by other means). Furthermore, in cases
where information that has been requested is intended for future publication, the qualified
exemption at section 22 may be applied to withhold it.
36. As this review has found that the application of section 12(4) is appropriate, I have not
considered whether section 26 (defence) applies. I can, however, advise that should future
requests on this subject be received, MOD will consider the use of substantive exemptions,
where appropriate.
37. Finally, while I have not formally reviewed the refusal notice, aggregating your requests
dated 15 December 2020, issued by Navy Command on 12 January 2021, I note that the
requests were for similar information and received within 60 consecutive days, and so do
meet the criteria for aggregation under section 12(4).
Conclusion
38.
In summary:
a.
Your request was handled in accordance with the statutory timeliness requirements
under section 10(1) of the Act.
b.
The Department is justified in aggregating your requests under section 12(4) which
fully meet the criteria for aggregation as explained in this review. All your requests
relate to the overarching theme about ‘MOD’s organisational structure including
locations, roles and appointments’.
c.
The cost of dealing with your requests received during any 60 consecutive working
day period can be aggregated if they would exceed the cost limit of £600 and
section 12(4) applies because the cost of dealing with two or more requests is
considered to be the cost of dealing with all of them for the purposes of applying
section 12.
d.
There is currently no conclusive proof or sufficient evidence to indicate that you are
collaborating with others on this subject matter, but MOD will continue to monitor
the situation.
e.
As explained, it has been estimated that the date at which you will be able to
submit a request on the topic of ‘
MOD’s organisational structure including
locations, roles and appointments’ without any possibility of the effort of
processing it to be aggregated with the handling of any other requests would be
24 March 2021.
7 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence | https://data.gov.uk/ | https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/ |
https://www.army.mod.uk/ | https://www.raf.mod.uk/
6
f.
Under the provisions at section 12(4) of the Act, the Department is not obliged to
respond to any new requests for information about ‘MOD’s organisational structure
including locations, roles and appointments’ which are received within any 60
consecutive working days where doing so would exceed the appropriate cost limit.
g.
I have provided advice and assistance under section 16 of the Act. MOD has
processed your requests of 9 December (FOI2020/13568) and 24 December 2020
(FOI2020/13983) and I am, therefore, unable to offer any further refinements.
If you are dissatisfied with the review, you may wish to make a complaint to the Information
Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Act. Further details of the role and
powers of the Commissioner can be found on the website at:
https://ico.org.uk. The address
is: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe house, Water Lane, WILMSLOW, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Gardiner
7
Annex A to
FOI2020/13258 and various requests
Dated 17th February 2021
Requests Received from Mr Justin Zacchi between 15 September to 9 December 2020
NB: Requests at no. 1-15 aggregated under section 12(4) in Army Secretariat’s response of 10 December 2020
No
Date request
MOD Reference
Request details and WDTK web link
Team
Status / Comments
received
1 9 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13567
1) Is 8 Engineer Brigade's CIS Troop part of the Royal Engineers or Royal Signals, and
Army Sec
S12(4) applied in
(Subject to
could you provide their current location
Army Secretariat’s
review)
response dated 10
2) Does 38th (Irish) Brigade and the SIG have a separate signal troop, or just RCS
Dec 2020 to
personnel attached to their HQ?
Requests 1-15 in
Annex A
3) Could you clarify the following; is 13 Signal Regiment due to move to 1 ISR Bde in the
future? Or will it remain under 1 Signal Brigade? According to this FOI(A):
Some further
Army/Sec/21/02/FOI2019/06365, 13 Signal Regiment was due to come under 1 ISR Bde.
correspondence is
available at the
4) Could you advise if the ARRC Military Police Battalion is still active, and could you
WDTK links
confirm this battalion is under 1 (UK) Signal Bde?
provided
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/royal_corps_of_signals_informati
2 4 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13375
Could you provide a list/document which shows all current army Garrisons/Stations/Camps?
Army Sec
S12(4)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/garrisons#incoming-1689955
3 3 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13350
Could you advise which 1* (or 2* if applicable) each of the below units are:
Army Sec
S12(4)
1) Currently subordinated to
and
After the Army’s
2) their future (if changing) future command.
response, your
1) KRH
email of 11 Dec
2) HCR
2020 stated that you
3) RL (Royal Lancers)
‘
Already have this
4) RDG
information’ and you
5) RWY
appear to have
6) 1 SCOTS GDS
‘
withdrawn’ the
7) 1 SCOTS
request on WDTK
8) 4 SCOTS
9) 2 LANCS
10) 1 YORKS
11) 3 RIFLES
12) 103 REME
A-1
13) 104 REME
14) 105 REME
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/current_subordination
4 30 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13128
I'm unsure if this information is available, but if not could you provide a list or advise which
Army Sec
S12(4)
barracks form part of Catterick Garrison. Also, if you could advise which units they are
used by (if allowed). I understand for security reasons some information can't be provided,
so if there is somewhere this information has already been listed/provided and can be given
to me, that would be great too!
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/catterick_garrison
5 30 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13126
1) Could you provide either a list (or url where this information is available) for the current
Army Sec
S12(4)
units based in (including any moving out/into Scotland) by the end of the year.
After the Army’s
2) Could you also also advise if the following units have moved/changed their command
response, your
(command as in what they report to):
email of 11 Dec
2020, stated that
2a) 1 MERCIAN (due to move to Weeton Barracks and swap with 2 YORKS?)
you ‘
Already have
2b) 2 YORKS (my understanding is they are due to move to Cyprus later this month
this information’ and
and swap with 1 MERCIAN)
you appear to have
2c) 1 PWRR
‘
withdrawn’ the
2d) 1 YORKS (my understanding is they've just moved to Catterick?)
request on WDTK
2e) 1 R ANGLIAN
2d) Royal Dragoon Guards (my understanding is they have just moved to Warminster?)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/army_in_scotland
6 30 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13123
Could you provide either a list (or url/pdf) which provides a list of the current sites
Army Sec
S12(4)
used/owned by the Ministry of Defence within Scotland.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/cy/request/ministry_of_defence_locations_in
7 30 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13110
Could you advise the recruiting areas (if assigned one) for each of the regular regiments of
Army Sec
S12(4)
the Royal Armoured Corps? I'm aware the Yeomanry are regional, therefore I'm asking for
After the Army’s
only the regulars.
response, your
email of 11 Dec
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/royal_armoured_corps_recruiting
2020 stated that you
‘
Already have this
information’ and you
appear to have
‘
withdrawn’ the
request on WDTK
8 26 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13033
Could you advise or provide a document/link for the currently location of Corps HQs for the
Army Sec
S12(4)
British Army (ie: Royal Engineers, RLC, REME)? (previous request related:
Army/Sec/Basing/FOI2020/12143)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/corps_headquarters#outgoing-1087460
9 26 Nov 2020
FOI2020/13032
Could you advise or provide a document/link for the currently location of RHQs for the Royal
Army Sec
S12(4)
Armoured Corps? (previous request related: Army/Sec/Basing/FOI2020/12143)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/armoured_rhq
A-2
10 16 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12534
Can you advise if any units have changed/moved since OrBat request in November 2018,
Army Sec
S12(4)
provided here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2018-11-
22/194616
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/basing_changes#outgoing-1083223
11 16 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12523
Could you advise the status of the new "Strike" ISTAR companies? In a post from 3
Army Sec
S12(4)
RIFLES, an "ISTAR Company" was deploying as part of training for the new Strike concept.
Your email of 4 Dec
Can you confirm this, or expand on what I might be getting confused with something else
2020 stated,
here. Link to my reference: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/istar
‘
Wouldn't receive
the information’. It
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/istar#outgoing-1090525
may have been
marked as
withdrawn on WDTK
but MOD did not
receive an email
which confirmed that
the request had
been withdrawn.
12 6 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12286
Clarification:
Army Sec
S12(4)
I can advise by "numbers" I mean like 43 AEC or 41 AEC, etc. And by "subordination", yes
I'm referring to their higher organisation.
Closed
Request was
Original:
clarified under FOI
Could you advise the following (or information is available elsewhere a link would work too):
FOI2020/12113 and
1) The current AECs (Army Education Centres) and their numbers
then under this
2) Those AECs above, their location and their subordination (if allowed to disclose this
reference was
information)
answered on 7 Dec
2020
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/current_aecs
13 3 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12143
Could you advise or provide a document/link for the current dislocation of RHQs for the
Army Sec
S12(4)
British Army's Infantry Branch?
Closed
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/infantry_hq#incoming-1681445
Proof of ID provided.
Response dated 25
Nov 2020
14 3 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12141
Hello, as far as I'm aware after Army 2020 there are 4 Army Training Units (ATUs), ATU
Army Sec
S12(4)
North based in Strensall (detachment in Altcar, former NW ATU), ATU Northern Ireland in
Ballykinler, ATU Scotland in Edinburgh, and ATU West in Exeter with a Wales detachment
Closed
in Cardiff.
Response dated 27
So, my questions is;
Nov 2020
1) Can you advise of these ATUs still exist or have been disbanded.
2) What are the roles of ATUs and which command/units are they placed under themselves
3) Have any changes occurred since Army 2020 in relation to the ATUs
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/army_training_units_atu#outgoing-1078588
A-3
15 3 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12147
Could you advise (for all services or MoD services) the units/commands (or links where I
UK
S12(4)
could find this information) for the current overseas postings:
StratCom
1) British Forces Gibraltar
HQ
Closed
2) British Forces South Atlantic Islands
Response dated 23
3) British Forces Cyprus
Nov 2020
4) British Forces Belize
5) British Forces Brunei
6) British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories
7) British Army Training Unit Suffield
8) British Army Training Unit Kenya
9) British Army Training and Support Unit Belize
10) Kabul Protection Unit
11) NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (if any permanent deployed units)
I understand as per protection, some of this information might be exempt, so in that cause
you could re-direct me to where I might be able to find some of this information?
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/british_forces_overseas
16 16 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12599
Could you advise which units (since OP Toral started) have deployed on operations, and
Permanent
This request could
what time-frame. I have not been able to find any information on this, but if there are other
Joint HQ
have been
links available that would be greatfull also!
aggregated under
s12(4)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/operational_toral
Closed - Response
dated 11 Dec 2020
17 31 Oct 2020
FOI2020/12113
Could you advise the following (or information is available elsewhere a link would work too):
Army Sec
Closed
Response dated 6
1) The current AECs (Army Education Centres) and their numbers
Nov 2020
2) Those AECs above, their location and their subordination (if allowed to disclose this
(This was clarified:
information)
FOI2020/12286)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/current_aecs
A-4
Requests – ID requested and received
18 2 Nov 2020
FOI2020/12100
Could you advise or provide a document/link for the current dislocation of RHQs for the
Army Sec
Information Rights
British Army's Infantry Branch?
letter dated 2 Nov
2020 – ID requested
19 29 Oct 2020
FOI2020/12053
Could you advise (for all services or MoD services) the units/commands (or links where I
UK
could find this information) for the current overseas postings:
StratCom
1) British Forces Gibraltar
HQ
2) British Forces South Atlantic Islands
3) British Forces Cyprus
4) British Forces Belize
5) British Forces Brunei
6) British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories
7) British Army Training Unit Suffield
8) British Army Training Unit Kenya
9) British Army Training and Support Unit Belize
10) Kabul Protection Unit
11) NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (if any permanent deployed units)
I understand as per protection, some of this information might be exempt, so in that cause
you could re-direct me to where I might be able to find some of this information?
20 29 Oct 2020
FOI2020/12052
Hello, as far as I'm aware after Army 2020 there are 4 Army Training Units (ATUs), ATU
Army Sec
North based in Strensall (detachment in Altcar, former NW ATU), ATU Northern Ireland in
Ballykinler, ATU Scotland in Edinburgh, and ATU West in Exeter with a Wales detachment
in Cardiff.
So, my questions is;
1) Can you advise of these ATUs still exist or have been disbanded.
2) What are the roles of ATUs and which command/units are they placed under themselves
3) Have any changes occurred since Army 2020 in relation to the ATUs
A-5
Annex B to
FOI2020/13258 and various requests
Dated 17th February 2021
Requests Received from Mr Justin Zacchi after 9 December 2020
No
Date request
MOD Reference
Request details
Team
Status
received
1 12 Feb 2021
FOI2021/01662
I understand this is a long request, so I'll break it up into separate sections.
Army Sec
Open – New request
1. Could you provide a list of the units/formations assigned to 6 (UK) Division, and their
locations if possible:
1a) Division Control/HQ
1b) 1st (UK) Signal Brigade
1c) 1st ISR Brigade
1d) Specialised Infantry Group
2. Are any units due to be assigned/formed and brought under the 6th (UK) Division and any
of their brigades in the future?
3. Are there any basing changes planned for any of the brigades/units in the near future (up
to 2023).
2 25 Jan 2021
FOI2021/00781
I'd like to request a list of bands of the Armed Forces, as they were in 1990 (just before the
People Sec
Open – New request
(dated 24 Jan
Options for Change).
2021)
If this can't be answered here, any information on where I can find the information would work
also.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bands_of_the_british_armed_force
3 25 Jan 2021
FOI2021/00779
Could you provide a list of the current bands within the three services of the armed forces?
People Sec
Open – New request
(dated 24 Jan)
Also, if possible their locations and which formation they report to would be greatly
appreciated.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bands_of_the_british_armed_force_2
4 24 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13983
Dear Royal Air Force, Could you provide a list of the following:
Air Cmd
Closed
1) Current Wings of the RAF Regiment
Response dated
2) The squadrons of the regiment and their higher command
7 Jan 2021
3) Current Location of the Wings/Squadrons
Similar request to
And finally, if possible could you advise which group these wings reports to overall.
FOI2020/13568
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/raf_regiment
Para 26 above
refers
5 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13726
Could you advise the current:
Navy Cmd
S12(4) applied in
A) Current Royal Navy Reserve units (and their size/command they report to)
Navy Command’s
B) Current Royal Marines Reserve units (and their size/command they report to)
response of 12 Jan
C) Any other reserve units of the Royal Navy/Royal Marines which don't fall into the above
2021
category (for example; any commands)
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/reserves_7
B-1
6 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13725
Could you advise the current standing squadrons/flotillas/commands/groups, etc of the Royal
Navy Cmd
Navy currently active.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/royal_navy_standing_commands
7 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13724
Could advise the current ships/organisations/services, etc. of the Royal Navy based within
Navy Cmd
HMNB Faslane.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/royal_navy_in_faslane
8 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13723
Could you advise the current MoD services/units (mod, not army)/organisations based at
Army Sec
Open - New request
Colchester Garrison.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/mod_at_colchester_garrison
9 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13721
Could you advise the current MoD services/units (mod, not army)/organisations based at
Army Sec
Open
Tidworth Garrison.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/mod_at_tidworth_garrison
10 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13720
Could you advise the current MoD services/units (mod, not army)/organisations based wihtin
Army Sec
Open
Scotland.
Similar request to
FOI2020/13123
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/mod_in_scotland
11 15 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13718
Could you advise the current MoD services/units (mod, not army)/organisations based at
Army Sec
Open
Catterick Garrison.
Similar request to
FOI2020/13128
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/catterick_garrison_2
12 9 Dec 2020
FOI2020/13568
Could you provide a list of the current RAF Cadet wings, along with the groups they report to
Air Cmd
Closed
(if available), and those wing's current squadrons and locations? I understand this is a lost to
request, so if this information has already been provided or can be viewed anywhere else,
S12(4)
that would work too.
This request was
aggregated in Navy
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/raf_cadet_wings
Command’s
response dated 12
Jan 2021 but
Air Cmd issued
their substantive
response dated 12
Jan 2021
Para 27 above
refers
B-2
