Tony Blair's response to Sir Callum McCarthy's 31/05/2005 letter
Dear Sir or Madam,
I write to request, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, a copy of Tony Blair's response to Sir Callum McCarthy's letter dated 31 May 2005 along with any documents relating to that response.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI261656
Dear Mr Jones,
Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on
23/01/2009 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: [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]
Mr Jones,
I am writing to let you know that the Cabinet Office needs more time to
deal with your request for information. The reasons for this and an
estimate of when I shall be able to issue a reply are set out in the
attached letter. I shall not send a paper copy.
I hope the attachment is clear but please contact me if you do not
understand any point.
Regards,
John Jenkins
Openness Advisor
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Room 3.30, Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [1][email address]
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:[email address]
Mr Jones,
I am writing to let you know that the Cabinet Office needs more time to
deal with your request for information. I now hope to be able to reply by
28 April 2009. If I can reply before that date, I shall do so. If the
Cabinet Office needs more time to consider the balance of the public
interest, I shall write again to let you know.
I hope my email is clear but please contact me if you do not understand
any point.
Regards,
John Jenkins
Openness Advisor
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Room 3.30, Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [1][email address]
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:[email address]
Mr Jones,
I am writing to let you know that the Cabinet Office needs more time to
deal with your request for information. I now hope to be able to reply
by 26 May 2009. If I can reply before that date, I shall do so. If the
Cabinet Office needs more time to consider the balance of the public
interest, I shall write again to let you know.
I hope my email is clear but please contact me if you do not understand
any point.
Regards,
John Jenkins
Openness Advisor
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Room 3.30, Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [1][email address]
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:[email address]
Mr Jones,
I am writing to let you know that the Cabinet Office needs more time to
deal with your request for information. I now hope to be able to reply by
23 June 2009. If I can reply before that date, I shall do so. If the
Cabinet Office needs more time to consider the balance of the public
interest, I shall write again to let you know.
I hope my email is clear but please contact me if you do not understand
any point.
Regards,
John Jenkins
Openness Advisor
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Room 3.30, Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [1][email address]
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:[email address]
Mr Jones,
I am writing to let you know that the Cabinet Office needs more time to
deal with your request for information. I now hope to be able to reply by
20 July 2009. If I can reply before that date, I shall do so. If the
Cabinet Office needs more time to consider the balance of the public
interest, I shall write again to let you know.
I hope my email is clear but please contact me if you do not understand
any point.
Regards,
John Jenkins
Openness Advisor
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Room 3.30, Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [1][email address]
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:[email address]
Dear John Jenkins,
I note that 201 days have passed since I requested from you a
copy of Tony Blair's response to Sir Callum McCarthy's letter dated
31 May 2005 along with any documents relating to that response.
I understand that the Cabinet Office needed more time to consider the balance of the public interest in this case. You initially hoped to reply by 28 April 2009, but it is now 12 August 2009.
I would be most grateful if you would now answer the following:
1. Why has it taken so much longer than you had anticipated to consider the balance of public interest in this case?
2. How much time has been spent so far by the Cabinet Office, actively considering this case?
3. By when do you expect to have reached a decision?
4. Five times have you underestimated the amount of time you need to reach a decision. What measures have you taken to ensure that your response to (3) is a more meaningful and likely estimate than your previous responses?
I look forward to your response, and hope that it assists me in understanding whether the considerable amount of time you are taking to comply with my request is reasonable under the circumstances.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
Dear Cabinet Office,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of the Cabinet Office's handling of my FOI request 'Tony Blair's response to Sir Callum McCarthy's 31/05/2005 letter'.
I have not received any correspondence from the Cabinet Office since 22 June 2009, when I was informed yet again that more time was needed to deal with my request.
I then sent a message on 12 August 2009 which contained questions the answers to which would help me establish whether the amount of time the Cabinet Office had taken was reasonable under the circumstances.
Given that I have yet to receive a response over six months later, I am forced to conclude that the Cabinet Office has taken an unreasonable amount of time to deal with my request of 23 January 2009.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/to...
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
Dear Mr Jones,
Thank you for Internal Review request dated 22/03/2010. 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 FOI Team,
I draw your attention to the following passage from the Information Commissioner's Office Freedom of Information Good Practice Guidance No. 5 (version 1.0, 22 February 2007):
"the Commissioner considers that a reasonable time for completing an internal review is 20 working days from the date of the request for review. There may be a small number of cases which involve exceptional circumstances where it may be reasonable to take longer. In those circumstances, the public authority should, as a matter of good practice, notify the requester and explain why more time is needed.
In our view, in no case should the total time taken exceed 40 working days."
I eagerly await your response.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
Dear Mr Jones,
Please see the attached letter regarding your request for an internal review.
Kind regards,
Zara Smart
PA to Sue Gray
Propriety & Ethics Team
T (020) 7276 3540
Cabinet Office
Room 1.18
70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS
Dear Sue Gray,
Your response of 17 August 2010 is insufficient.
In particular, I need to understand:
1. Whether or not your response is the conclusion of an internal review.
2. What you mean by the "subject of the information" and in what sense you consider it to be "sensitive".
3. Which parties needed to be consulted, and why it has taken over a year and a half to "consult all those who need to be involved".
4. Why I wasn't informed at any stage during the process that it was likely to take so long.
5. Why you are, at this late stage, unable to commit to a date by which I can expect to have received a reply to my request of 23 January 2009.
6. Why it has taken you considerably longer than 40 working days to conduct your internal review into this matter.
I look forward to a punctual reply which addresses those six points in full.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
Mr Jones,
I attach the Cabinet Office reply to your request for information. I shall not send a paper copy.
I hope the letter is clear. Please contact me if you do not understand any point.
Regards
John Jenkins
Head of Openness Team
Knowledge and Information Management Unit (Openness team)
Admiralty Arch, London SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 6322
email: [email address]
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.
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Francis Irving left an annotation ()
Blog post criticising the time it took for this request to get a response:
http://dizzythinks.net/2010/08/19-month-...