President-Prime Minister telephone conversations
Dear Sir or Madam,
I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.
From 27 June 2007 until 20 January 2009, how many telephone conversations took place between the President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister?
From 1 December 2005 until 27 June 2007, how many telephone conversations took place between the President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister?
I would appreciate two separate figures.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
Dear Mr Bainbridge,
Please find attached response to your freedom of information request.
Kind regards,
Yasmine Edwards
FOI Team
Cabinet Office
Tel: 020 7276 2473
The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system
and for other lawful purposes.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
Dear Sir or Madam,
In light of the projected cost of retrieving the information that I have requested, I would therefore like to request simply the number of telephone conversations that took place between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States between 27 June 2007 and 20 January 2009.
I look forward to a prompt reply.
Yours sincerely,
S Bainbridge
Dear Sir or Madam,
Can I remind you of the above information that I have requested from you. I look forward to your reply.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
Dear Sir or Madam,
Can I please remind you that under Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act, you have a duty to provide advice and assistance to any requests that I make. This response is long overdue, and without a reply in the given time, the Prime Minister's Office is breaking the law.
Will you please reply to my question as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
Dear Mr Bainbridge,
Please find attached response to your recent information request.
Kind regards,
Yasmine Edwards
FOI Team
Cabinet Office
Tel: 020 7276 2473
The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system
and for other lawful purposes.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Prime Minister's Office's handling of my FOI request 'President-Prime Minister telephone conversations'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/pr...
My request was rejected because "a list giving the timings" of conversations and the "details of all private discussions" would not be on the right side of the public interest-'security' balance. I would agree with this analysis, which is why I did not ask for this information.
I asked merely for a figure; a figure that would reveal how many times the Prime Minister and President of the United States had spoken between 27 June 2007 and 20 January 2009. I requested neither details of these conversations that took place, nor the timings of such conversations. Merely a figure. Such a figure would not "erode the basis of trust" between the Prime Minister and other world leaders, and nor would it "affect the Prime Minister's ability to promote the UK's interests abroad".
Furthermore, I would like you to review the reasoning behind the rejection of my initial request, asking for the above information as well as the number of times the Prime Minister and President of the United States had spoken over the telephone between 1 December 2005 and 27 June 2007. This was rejected because it was estimated that the cost of retrieving the information would be too much. I fail to understand how obtaining two separate figures would cost over £600.
I am sure that, when you look at the history of my Freedom of Information request, you will also agree that the time that it has taken to respond to my requests has been far from adequate, and I hope you will also review this.
I look forward to receiving from you a prompt reply.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for Internal Review request dated 21/07/2009. This is receiving
attention.
Kind Regards,
FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [1][Number 10 request email]
The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system
and for other lawful purposes.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Number 10 request email]
Dear Sir/Madam,
Can I please remind you that it is over two months since I requested this internal review. I would appreciate a reply being sent to me extremely soon.
Many thanks.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
Dear Sir or Madam,
It is now nearly four months since I requested a review, and over month since I sent a follow-up message to request information. Can I ask that I am sent a reply within the next week, dealing with my requests, or at least an explanation as to the reasons for delay.
Yours faithfully,
S Bainbridge
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Paul Haigh left an annotation ()
Surely the review is well overdue?
I cannot believe that it would take more than 3.5 days to get this information. Typical example of Government stonewalling.