Public Duty Costs Allowance

The request was refused by Cabinet Office.

Steve Elibank

Dear Cabinet Office,

I understand from your answer to a Parliamentary Question (HC Deb, 6 April 2010, c1173W) that in 2008-9, £190,888 of public money was claimed by former Prime Ministers as part of their Public Duty Costs Allowance.

I also understand that "claims must be supported by documentary evidence". Therefore, please provide me with the following material:
—An inventory of where the £190,888 went, broken down into individual claims (as in, "Margaret Thatcher, 24th November 2008, she did such-and-such a ceremony..." for example)
—A copy of each piece of documentary evidence provided

This FOI request applies solely to the 2008-9 PDCA.

Yours faithfully,
Steve Elibank

Cabinet Office

Link: [1]File-List
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CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI300274

Dear Mr Elibank,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on
17/05/2010 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team

Cabinet Office

E: [Cabinet Office request email]
<mailto:[Cabinet Office 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.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

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Dear Cabinet Office,

You are now breaking the law, having failed to respond to my FOI request within the statutory period. If I do not hear from you by 5pm today, a complaint will be lodged with the Information Commissioner.

Yours faithfully,
Steve Elibank

Cabinet Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Elibank,

Please find attached the response to your FOI requested dated 17/05/2010.
Do not hesitate to contact me if have any queries.

Thanks

Doris Carr

CSG Finance Lead

FINANCIAL & ESTATE MANAGEMENT

CABINET OFFICE

5TH FLOOR

22 WHITEHALL

LONDON

SW1A 2WH

Tel: 0207 276 6104

E-mail [1][email address]

P Think of the environment...please don't print this e-mail unless you
really need to

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.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Ms Carr,

Thank you for your (albeit late) response. I am happy to restrict my remit in the way that you suggest, namely to drop the request for a copy of the documentary evidence.

Yours faithfully,
Steve Elibank

Cabinet Office

CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI301969
Dear Mr Elibank,
Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on
16/06/2010 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know the likely charges before proceeding.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [Cabinet Office request email]
&LT;mailto:[Cabinet Office request email]&GT;

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.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

Dear Cabinet Office,

Your response to my FOI request about the PCDA is now delayed. You will be reported to the ICO unless I hear from you by 4pm today.

Yours faithfully,
Steve Elibank

Dear sir/madam;

CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI301969

You have not responded to my Freedom of Information request within the statutory limit of 20 working days. Unless I hear from you by 3pm today, a complaint will be lodged with the Information Commissioner.

Steve Elibank

Dear Cabinet Office,

CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI300274

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Cabinet Office's handling of my FOI request 'Public Duty Costs Allowance'.

Any response is overdue by almost two months, and this is completely unacceptable. I would like an explanation, an apology and the material I requested originally.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/pu...

Please acknowledge receipt of this email.

Steve Elibank

Cabinet Office

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Dear Mr. Elibank,

Thank you for Internal Review request dated 20/08/2010. This is receiving
attention.

Kind Regards,

FOI Team

Cabinet Office

E: [Cabinet Office request email]
<mailto:[Cabinet Office 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.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01CB42B3.B2159850
2. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
3. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~

Dear Cabinet Office,

FOI301969

I submitted the above request in May 2010. Having not received any response by August, I requested an Internal Review. This request was acknowledged, and you claimed that the matter was "receiving attention."

And yet here we are in late February 2011, and nothing has happened. What are you playing at?

If I do not receive a full response within 24hrs, I will be complaining to the Information Commissioner, to my MP and to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Steve Elibank

Dear Cabinet Office,

FOI301969

I submitted the above request in May 2010. Having not received any
response by August, I requested an Internal Review. This request
was acknowledged, and you claimed that the matter was "receiving
attention."

And yet here we are in late February 2011, and nothing has
happened. What are you playing at?

I warned you that if I did not receive a full response within 24hrs, I would be complaining to the Information Commissioner, to my MP and to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. I have now done so, but will happily withdraw these complaints if I hear from you.

Steve Elibank

Dear Cabinet Office,

FOI301969

Your response to this request is now more than six months overdue, and you have failed to carry out the requested Internal Review. What is going on?

Steve Elibank

Cabinet Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr. Elibank,

Please find attached a response to your internal review.

Kind regards

Dat-Fay Ip

Knowledge and Information Management Unit

Cabinet Office

Room 3.30,

Admiralty Arch

LONDON SW1A 2WH

T: 020 7276 6352

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Ganesh Sittampalam left an annotation ()

Have you considered following up on this? They haven't provided any useful advice and assistance for narrowing the request nor have they justified their estimate. Given the large amounts being spent - e.g. in comparison to individual MP expense allowances - some transparency seems important.