Queensbury Tunnel
Dear Sir/Madam
Could you please provide me with copies of all emails (inc attachments), letters, reports and other documentation etc sent to/from/within the DfT since 13th August 2019 relating to Queensbury Tunnel.
Yours faithfully
Graeme Bickerdike
Dear Sir,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information which
has been allocated reference number P0018824.
A response will be issued to you in due course.
Regards,
Department for Transport
FOI Advice Team
Governance Division
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7GA
Dear Department for Transport,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing with regards to my FOI request 'Queensbury Tunnel'. No response has been provided within the 20 working day time limit and I am therefore seeking an internal review.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/q...
Yours faithfully
Graeme Bickerdike
Dear Mr Bickerdike
Thank you for your email dated 2 October 2020 wherein you requested an
Internal Review with regards to the Department’s lack of response to your
request for information dated 28 August 2020. An internal review will now
be conducted to investigate the circumstances into why a response was not
issued to you within the time limits set out in legislation. A response to
your request for an internal review will be issued shortly.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[1][IMG] Deepak Patel
Freedom of Information Adviser, Information Rights
Team, Group Assurance
4/32, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
Dear Mr Bickerdike
Further to your email of 2 October 2020. Please see the attached letter.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[1][IMG] Deepak Patel
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Group Assurance
LG.5, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
Dear Mr Bickerdike
I write further to my email dated 7 October 2020.
I have been in communication with the relevant policy team to seek an
update regarding providing a response to your request for information. I
am told that, regrettably, they are not in a position to respond fully to
your request for information, as they require more time to complete the
relevant searches. The team are in communication with our Digital Services
department to establish exactly what information is held in scope.
Unfortunately, information for the exact parameters requested was not
forthcoming. I have asked the policy team for an indication of when they
might be in a position to respond to you substantively and they have
informed me that require a further 7 working days to formulate a response
to you.
I am very sorry for the delay in responding, but I hope this clarifies the
position.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[1][IMG] Deepak Patel
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Group Assurance
LG.5, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
From: FOI-ADVICE-TEAM-DFT
Sent: 07 October 2020 16:37
To: Graeme Bickerdike <[FOI #688119 email]>
Subject: RE: Internal review of Freedom of Information request -
Queensbury Tunnel
Dear Mr Bickerdike
Further to your email of 2 October 2020. Please see the attached letter.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[3][IMG] Deepak Patel
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Group Assurance
LG.5, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[4]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
Dear Sir/Madam
I submitted my FoI request (your ref P0018824) on 28 August 2020. The DfT failed to respond within the statutory deadline and apologised following an Internal Review.
On 7 October, you committed to providing "a final response within the next 7 to 10 days", but, on 19 October, I was informed that you "require a further 7 working days to formulate a response". The last of those seven days passed more than a week ago and I have heard nothing.
It is now ten weeks since I submitted my original request. Could you please give me a definitive date by which I will receive the requested information?
Yours sincerely
Graeme Bickerdike
Dear Mr Bickerdike
Please see the attached response.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[1][IMG] Deepak Patel
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Group Assurance
LG.5, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
Dear Sir/Madam
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of the Department for Transport's handling of my FOI request 'Queensbury Tunnel'.
Whilst recognising that my request places an unwelcome burden on the Department, I do not accept the assumptions which have brought you to the cost of £10,556.25.
My last similar request was investigated by the ICO after the DfT deemed it to be vexatious. The Department told the ICO that 335 emails fell within scope. However your eventual response only included 90 emails (27%) - some of which were duplicates - and, of these, 30 contained 25 words or fewer (e.g. they simply acknowledged the contents of the previous email in the chain). Very few of the remaining 60 emails exceeded 300 words. I therefore believe that an average of 5 minutes is more appropriate for review purposes.
It should also be noted that this request would have only covered a six-month period had I not been obliged to delay its submission due to the DfT's errant claim that my previous request was vexatious.
The DfT asserts that 1,689 emails are within the scope of my request. If it takes one minute per email to determine that 73% (1,233) of them cannot be provided due to exceptions/exemptions and five minutes per email are allowed for the remaining 456, the cost would be £1,463.75, based on a charge of £25/hr. As a result of the 12-month rather than six-month scope of the request - which was effectively imposed by the DfT - I believe a cost of £731.88 should therefore be considered.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/q...
I look forward to receiving the outcome of your review in due course, recognising the public interest in understanding the DfT's seemingly perverse decision-making around the issue of Queensbury Tunnel.
Yours faithfully
Graeme Bickerdike
Dear Mr Bickerdike
Thank you for your email requesting an internal review into the handling
of your request information.
I am writing to confirm that the Department will now undertake an internal
review of our decision letter which was issued on Monday 9 November 2020.
We aim to respond to your complaint within 20 working days.
Kind regards
Deepak Patel
[1][IMG] Deepak Patel
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Group Assurance
LG.5, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
Dear Mr Bickerdike,
Please refer to the attached letter.
Regards,
Ivan Pocock
[1][IMG] Ivan Pocock
Information Rights Adviser, Information Rights (Data
Protection and FOI) Team, Governance Division, Group
Assurance and Digital Directorate
D/04, Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North, St Leonards on Sea, TN37 7GA
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk
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