Contacts with tobacco industry

Raouf Alebshehy made this Freedom of Information request to East West Railway Company Limited as part of a batch sent to 207 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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East West Railway Company Limited did not have the information requested.

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I am entitled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please provide a list of any and all contact your organisation and/or staff have had with British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris International, as well as any other domestic or transnational tobacco companies or anyone representing the tobacco industry including subsidiaries of tobacco industry.

I would like this information for the period from 1 April 2021 to 20 February 2023.

Contact would primarily include attending or arranging meetings or functions, and responding to correspondence or phone calls.

Please break down the information by:
• Tobacco company or representative’s name
• Date of contact(s)
• Type of contact (meeting, email, letter, phone call, text/app message or video call, e-card or any other form of electronic communication)
• Place of contact, if relevant
• Purpose of contact
• Outcome of contact, including if no action taken

I request that the information be provided electronically. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request, my details are outlined below.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Raouf Alebshehy

Thank you for getting in touch with the EWR Co team.

We try to deal with enquiries within ten working days though it may take
longer if we need to ask several colleagues for information. We'll keep
you up to date if that's the case.

Kind regards,
EWR Co Team East West Railway Company Limited is a company registered in
England and Wales. Registered office: One Grafton Mews, Midsummer
Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 1FB. Company registration number: 11072935.

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Dear R.Alebshehy,

Thank you for your interest in East West Rail.

We are in receipt of your email of 20 February 2023 and we are treating it
as a Freedom of Information request.

The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations
oblige us to respond to requests for information within 20 working days of
the day we received your message, but we aim to respond to all enquiries
as quickly as we can.

Please do get in contact if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,

Leon Mitchell
Information Governance Officer | East West Railway Company

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Dear R Alebshehy,

Freedom of Information Request

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 20
February 2023.

In that request you asked us for information below:

Please provide a list of any and all contact your organisation and/or
staff have had with British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan
Tobacco International, Philip Morris International, as well as any other
domestic or transnational tobacco companies or anyone representing the
tobacco industry including subsidiaries of tobacco industry.

I would like this information for the period from 1 April 2021 to 20
February 2023.

Contact would primarily include attending or arranging meetings or
functions, and responding to correspondence or phone calls.

Please break down the information by:

• Tobacco company or representative’s name
• Date of contact(s)
• Type of contact (meeting, email, letter, phone call, text/app message or
video call, e-card or any other form of electronic communication)
• Place of contact, if relevant
• Purpose of contact
• Outcome of contact, including if no action taken

I can confirm that the search for the information you requested has been
completed and I can advise you of the following:

We have conducted a search of our CRM system for the period from 01 April
2021 – 20 February 2023 regarding the information that you have requested
and can confirm that there has not been any contact between East West Rail
Co and any domestic or transnational tobacco companies.

There has also not been any contact with any representative of the tobacco
industry including subsidiaries of tobacco industry during this period.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review of our response, you should write to
FOI Review, East West Railway Company Limited, 1 Grafton Gate, Midsummer
Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 1FB, or by email to
[1][email address].

If you are unhappy with the service you have received following an
internal review, you have the right to ask the Information Commissioners
Office (ICO) to review our decision. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You can find further information on the
ICO website: [2]www.ico.org.uk.

Yours sincerely,

Leon Mitchell
Information Governance Officer
East West Rail

show quoted sections

Find out about the latest news and updates from East West Rail

[1]View this email in your browser

[2]Banner

[3]Two people linking arms

Keeping You Connected
Edition 9

Welcome to this year’s first edition of Keeping You Connected.

In the previous newsletter, I made a personal pledge that our team will work
with Government to provide you with an update during the first half of this
year. As promised, the whole team has continued to work hard in setting out the
case for East West Rail (EWR) to inform Government decisions.

As a result, I’m delighted that as part of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2023,
the Government announced that they expect a route update in May would be made.
We expect to confirm the Bedford to Cambridge section of the route and share
updates on other sections of EWR at the same time.

We look forward to talking with local communities after the May announcement and
will share the dates and details on our website when we have more information.

This announcement will provide a level of certainty that I know a lot of people
have been waiting for and allow us to work more on refining those plans and
start preparing for the next stage of consultation.

I’ll leave you to read the rest of the newsletter which includes updates of
other work at EWR to create a faster, more sustainable and affordable way to
travel, and improve daily lives. I look forward to being in touch soon with
further news of the announcement.

Beth West, Chief Executive

[4]Banner with text: Project updates and stories

[5]Image: new track construction train in action

Track laying from Bicester to Bletchley reaches the halfway point

There was a sense of excitement in Winslow as the new track construction (NTC)
train reached the new railway station. The new station at Winslow marks the
halfway point for track construction on Connection Stage 1 of East West Rail and
there’ll be more opportunities to catch the NTC in action down the line.

[6]Take a look here

Keep up to date with East West Rail Alliance (EWRA)

The team at the East West Rail Alliance (EWRA) are bringing the line between
Oxford and Bletchley to life, working on exciting community outreach promoting
rail safety, nuturing nature as well as building bridges and track-laying
progress. You can find all the latest news and read more in the EWRA newsletter.

[7]Read the EWRA newsletter here

[8]Banner with text: Supporting the communities and customers we serve

[9][IMG]
Watch: Transforming everyday journeys

Recently, we went to Cambridge and Bedford to find out more about how East West
Rail will transform everyday journeys. We heard from people who told us how the
new railway would make it easier to reach the things that matter most.

[10]Watch the video here

[11]Image: back of person wearing an East West Rail jacket

Local Representatives Groups update

Our Local Representatives Group meetings recommenced in February, bringing the
EWR Co team together with representatives from parish, town and local
authorities from across the route in 14 sessions held over 4 weeks.

The EWR Co team gave presentations on a range of topics of interest to the
groups and their communities, while members have been giving us the benefit of
their local knowledge on diverse subjects: from engaging with younger users of
the railway during consultation, to the specific concerns of communities around
construction. All meeting agendas and minutes will be uploaded to view
[12]here.

All members of the groups have been extremely generous with their time, and
we’re grateful for their ongoing participation. The groups are just one of the
ways local communities can connect with our team through their representatives.
You can find more information on the community hub [13]here.

[14]Find out more

[15]Banner with text: In the news

Rail Minister stops by to see the new station at Winslow

Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, visits the new East West Rail station at Winslow
which is currently being developed alongside new track constuction between
Bicester and Bletchley.

[16]Watch video

Beth West talks about the opportunity for infrastructure to support the UK’s
global growth ambitions.

Economic growth has always relied on transport and connectivity. The canals of
Mesopotamia were fundamental to its foundation as the world’s first
civilisation. Roman roads literally paved the way for the greatest empire the
world has ever seen, and the Silk Routes created a global path for commerce in a
time when many had never ventured further than the end of their road.

[17]Read article

East West Rail mentioned by the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, in the George
Bradshaw Address

On 7 February the Transport Secretary spoke at the Institution of Civil
Engineers’ annual George Bradshaw Address. His speech primarily confirmed the
creation of the arms-length body Great British Railways (GBR) and the
Government’s commitment to the “fundamental reform” of the railways. It also
reaffirmed the Chancellor’s commitment to East West Rail.

[18]Read speech

Will Reddaway, our Head of Innovation, speaks to Railway Technology about rail
trends and predictions for the coming year

Will Reddaway talks about the value of investment – or rather the cost of not
investing – and highlights Cambridge as an example where the local economy will
stagnate should investment not be made in improving its connectivity.

[19]Read article

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Send us your thoughts and questions

[21]Get in touch

Our mailing address is:
East West Railway Company
One Grafton Mews
Midsummer Boulevard
Milton Keynes, MK9 1FB
United Kingdom
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