CCRC Letter to Paula Vennells, July 2013
Dear Post Office Limited,
The recently disclosed Brian Altman Review of 2013 reports the following:
‘Ms Vennells the Chief Executive of POL received a letter from Mrs Berlin of the CCRC of 12 July 2013 enquiring about the number of criminal convictions that might be affected by the Horizon issue they had become aware of through media reports and what POL’s proposed course of action was. She noted that the Attorney General had been asked to set up an enquiry, and the CCRC had been in touch with his office’ (para 157)
https://www.postofficehorizoninquiry.org...
Please can you disclose the letter which Mrs Berlin of the CCRC sent to Paula Vennells in 2013.
Please can you also disclose any other correspondence held by the Post Office which makes reference to the AGO enquiry or to its involvement in Horizon Issues in 2013.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh
Our ref: FOI2023/00272
Dear Eleanor Shaikh,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 18th May.
Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 16th
June.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Information Rights Team
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Dear Eleanor Shaikh
We are writing in respect of your information request, FOI2023/00272. At
present our view is that your request falls within the scope of the
qualified exemption at section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act ("
FOIA"), relating to Legal Professional Privilege.
As permitted by section 10 of the FOIA, Post Office Limited (" Post
Office") requires further time to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption. An extension is permitted until such time as
is reasonable in the circumstances. Having considered the FOIA Code of
Practice, Post Office considers that an extension of 20 working days is
appropriate in this instance and will therefore aim to respond to you by
17th July.
Regards
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
[1][email address]
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Eleanor Shaikh,
Further to our email of 16 June 2023, thank you for your patience whilst
we have been processing your request for information.
Unfortunately, we are still considering the public interest test relating
to the qualified exemption at section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act
(" FOIA"), relating to Legal Professional Privilege.
As permitted by section 10 of the FOIA, Post Office Limited (" Post
Office") requires further time to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption and Post Office considers that an extension of
20 working days is appropriate in this instance and will therefore aim to
respond to you by 15^th August.
With kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
From: [Post Office request email]
<[Post Office request email]>
Sent: 16 June 2023 11:15
To: [FOI #982027 email]
Subject: Freedom of Information Request ? FOI2023/00272
Dear Eleanor Shaikh
We are writing in respect of your information request, FOI2023/00272. At
present our view is that your request falls within the scope of the
qualified exemption at section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act ("
FOIA"), relating to Legal Professional Privilege.
As permitted by section 10 of the FOIA, Post Office Limited (" Post
Office") requires further time to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption. An extension is permitted until such time as
is reasonable in the circumstances. Having considered the FOIA Code of
Practice, Post Office considers that an extension of 20 working days is
appropriate in this instance and will therefore aim to respond to you by
17th July.
Regards
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
[1][email address]
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
[2]www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy. Information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
Dear Data Protection and Information Rights Team,
Please can you update on the progress of FOI request FOI2023/00272 submitted on 18 May 2023.
After two 20-day extensions to the deadline, you aimed to respond by 15 August 2023.
Many Thanks,
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh
Dear Ms Shaikh,
Thank you for your email. We are sorry but although we had hoped to respond by today, we are still working on your request. We aim to complete the request within the next few days but if there is any significant delay, we will contact you with an updated timescale for response.
Kind regards,
Information Rights
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
Dear Data Protection and Information Rights Team,
Thankyou for your email of 15 August regarding FOI2023/00272 submitted on 18 May 2023.
I would be most grateful if would update on the progress of this request.
Many Thanks,
Eleanor Shaikh
Dear Data Protection and Information Rights Team
I am writing to request an internal review into your handling of FOI2023/00272 submitted on 18 May 2023.
After two 20-day extensions to the deadline, you aimed to respond by 15 August 2023. After my prompting on 16 August you replied: ‘We aim to complete the request within the next few days but if there is any significant delay, we will contact you with an updated timescale for response.’
After two weeks without any update, I sent a further prompt on 30 August 2023 which has not yet been acknowledged.
As part of your internal review please can you disclose all Post Office communications which concern your decision on disclosure regarding FOI2023/00272.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh
Dear Ms Shaikh,
Thank you for your recent email regarding your request.
As Post Office has not yet responded to your initial information request, we ask that, in accordance with ICO guidance, you wait until the completion of this before submitting an internal review request. We are still processing your request as we are currently carrying out a consultation with third parties. We aim to respond very soon and apologise for the delay.
Once the FOI response is complete, should you not be satisfied with that response, you can then request an internal review. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk/
We also note that you have requested Post Office “…disclose all Post Office communications which concern your decision on disclosure regarding FOI2023/00272.” As Internal Reviews do not generally consider additional requests as part of the review, could you please confirm whether you intend this to be a new request bearing in mind the decision regarding disclosure has not yet been made?
Kind regards,
Information Rights
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
Dear Data Protection and Information Rights Team,
Thank you for your reply.
Whilst I await your full response to FOI2023/00272 ( now knowing that you are consulting with third parties), I am happy to suspend my request for internal review.
I also happy, subject to your response to FOI2023/00272, to suspend my further request for release of all Post Office communications which concern your decision on disclosure regarding FOI2023/00272. I would, however, appreciate an anticipated timeline more specific than ‘very soon’ for your completion of this request.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh
Dear Ms Shaikh,
Thank you for your email and for the clarity regarding the internal review and further request.
We anticipate responding to the request by no later than the end of next week and hopefully earlier than that.
Kind regards,
Information Rights
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
Dear Eleanor Shaikh,
Please find the attached response relating to your Freedom of Information
request. We apologise for the delay in providing you with this response.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
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