Sadiq Khan's diary

The request was refused by Greater London Authority.

Ibrahim Mohamed

Dear Greater London Authority,

Please can I have a copy of the Mayor of London's diary, listing all engagements, subject and location for February 2018.

Yours faithfully,

Ibrahim Mohamed

Greater London Authority

    From: [FOI #481854 email]
    To: [Greater London Authority request email]
    Subject: Freedom of Information request - Sadiq Khan's diary

Thank you for contacting us about the work of the Mayor and/or City Hall.

 

We aim to respond to written communication as quickly as possible and
within 20 working days.

 

However, please note that we may not reply to correspondence we consider:

• Is addressed to another party and where the Mayor has been copied-in for
information only.
• Contains comments that do not require a response.
• Includes unsolicited job applications or CVs.
• Is trying to sell or market a product.
• To be vexatious or contains abusive or discriminatory language.

 

In addition, we will not respond where we specifically state that we are
unable to enter into correspondence (for example, when inviting responses
to consultation documents).

 

If you have written to request the release of information under the
Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) or Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR), please take this message as confirmation your request has been
received. We will aim to provide a response within the statutory 20
working day deadline.
Further information on our service standards, is available on our website
at: [1]http://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/contac....

 

Thank you again for writing.

 

Yours sincerely,
Public Liaison Unit

References

Visible links
1. http://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/contac...

Mayor of London, Greater London Authority

Dear Ibrahim Mohamed

Thank you for your request for information which the GLA received on 2 May
2018.

In line with our publication scheme, the Mayor's diary is published on our
website twice a year. The GLA has already published the Mayor's diary
covering the period May 2016 to October 2017. The next publication of the
diary will include dates from November 2017 to April 2018:

https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/gover...

The Mayor's key engagements are also published in the Mayor's report which
forms part the meeting papers at each Mayor's Question Time:

https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/mayor...

Section 22 of the FOI Act provides an exemption for information that is
intended to be published in the future. Information is exempt if, at the
time when the public authority receives a request for it:

? the public authority holds the requested information;
? the public authority intends the information to be published at some
future date, whether that date is determined or not; and
? in all the circumstances it is reasonable to withhold the information
until its planned publication.

Section 22 acknowledges that public authorities must have freedom to be
able to determine their own publication timetables. This allows them to
deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of
publication. It is however necessary to consider whether the public
interest in maintaining the exemption (and withholding the information
until the publication date), is greater than the public interest in
releasing the information before this date.

In this instance, it is felt that there is a greater public interest for
the GLA to keep to its original timetable of disclosure. The decision to
publish the Mayor's diary on a six month basis was made in order to allow
the Mayor's office to effectively manage their workload and the work
required to prepare such a large amount of information for publication.

The decision to proactively publish the Mayor's diary demonstrates the
GLA's commitment to openness and transparency and we believe a six month
publication cycle for this information is appropriate. The public interest
in the release of the Mayor's meetings and key engagements is also met by
the more regular publication of the Mayor's report.

The public interest - i.e. the best interests of the public - is met by
the GLA being open and transparent, but also by managing its resources
effectively, and this includes setting reasonable publication schedules to
meet this public interest. While there is an obvious public interest in
the release of the Mayor's diary, we believe this is met by our intention
to publish this information in the coming month. We do not believe the
public interest favours the disruption that would be caused to GLA staff
by expediting this publication when its early publication would not meet
any immediate or exceptional public concerns at the present time.

We therefore find the balance of public interest falls in maintaining the
exemption and the GLA publishing this information in accordance with our
existing publication timetable. If you need more information about the
role and work of the GLA, please go to our website: www.london.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Paul Robinson
Information Governance Officer

If you are unhappy with the way the GLA has handled your request, you may
complain using the GLA's FOI complaints and internal review procedure,
available at:

https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/gover...

#LondonIsOpen 
GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY NOTICE:
The information in this email may contain confidential or privileged
materials. For more information
see [1]https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/email...

References

Visible links
1. https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/email...