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Thank you for your email requesting information relating to "Withdrawal of records from the National Archives…”, which was received on 14th January 2019 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.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries you may have via [email address]

Please remember to quote the reference numbers above in any future communications.

Regards

Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
NDA, Herdus House,
Westlakes Science & Technology Park,
Moor Row, CA24 3HU
Tel. no. 01925802077

Please note that I work Mon – Thur from 8:30 – 14:30.

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Dear Mr Thomas

We have now completed our search and ascertained that we do hold information relevant to your request. However, this material does involve third party information and we will need to consult with them and consider the appropriateness of applying exemptions before release.

We anticipate this may take some additional time to complete and although we may miss the 20 day statutory deadline we hope to get back to you as soon as possible thereafter.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes. I will endeavour to keep you informed of our progress.

Regards

Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
NDA, Herdus House,
Westlakes Science & Technology Park,
Moor Row, CA24 3HU
Tel. no. 01925802077

Please note that I work Mon – Thur from 8:30 – 14:30.

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Dear Mr Thomas

Apologies for the delay in responding, I just wanted to update you re. our progress.

We are awaiting feedback/input from the 3rd parties involved, but hope to have a decision re. your request before the end of the month.

Regards

Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
NDA, Herdus House, Westlakes Science & Technology Park, Moor Row, CA24 3HU Tel. no. 01925802077

Please note that I work Mon – Thur from 8:30 – 14:30.

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Dear Mr Thomas,

Apologies for the delay in answering your request.

I have passed your request for an internal review to our Chief Compliance Officer who will be in touch with you directly.

Regards

Heather Rudd
Assistant Company Secretary
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
T: 01925 802515  M: 07889308723

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Mr Thomas,

As Chief Compliance Officer I am leading the Internal Review into the
NDA’s response to your FOI request dated 14^th January 2019.

Your request refers to the release of communications concerning the
withdrawal of files from the UK National Archives and as such requires me
to liaise with several third parties in order to understand the position
of these documents and the correspondence surrounding them.

In light of this I am informing you that I will require up to the maximum
40 days in order to fully carry out my review, however I will endeavour to
respond to you sooner if able.

Yours Sincerely

John Butler

[1]NDA_final_logo_Black small

John Butler
Chief Compliance Officer

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,
Herdus House, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3HU
T:  01925 802032
M: 07812 553986

W: [2]http://www.nda.gov.uk
Blog: [3]http://nda.blog.gov.uk
Follow us on: [4]Twitter and [5]LinkedIn
[6]Sign up to our e-bulletin

This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to
whom it is addressed and contains information that is or could be
privileged and/or confidential. If you, the reader of this message, are
not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy
this communication. If you have received this communication in error,
please notify me immediately by return email and delete the original
message.

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Dear Mr Thomas,

As Chief Compliance Officer, I have carried out the Internal Review into
the NDA’s response to your FOI request dated 14^th January 2019.

We acknowledge that the NDA has not provided you with a formal and
adequate response to your request and in looking into it there are a
number of both internal and external factors at play which turned this
into quite a complex situation with what appears to be an equally complex
solution.

There are a number of contributing factors to the delay in response to
your request;

-          A number of records that have historically been made available
through The National Archives are now subject to further review to ensure
that the initial security classification is correct.

-          This review involves a number of external parties including
NDA, MoD, AWE and The National Archives working together in a
collaborative manner.

-          This collaborative approach requires the development of a
process whereby requested items are given priority for review.

-          This prioritisation, designed to respond to the requirements of
the users of archive material,  will inevitably lead to delays associated
with a ‘search and sift’ type process.

As you appreciate, these are an unexpected and unplanned turn of events
and there are ongoing negotiations on the resource requirements and
availability to handle this workload.

I hope the above gives you some explanation to the background of the
delays and I understand that the NDA’s Information Access Manager is
continuing to work through your request.

Yours Sincerely

John Butler

[1]NDA_final_logo_Black small

John Butler
Chief Compliance Officer

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,
Herdus House, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3HU
T:  01925 802032
M: 07812 553986

W: [2]http://www.nda.gov.uk
Blog: [3]http://nda.blog.gov.uk
Follow us on: [4]Twitter and [5]LinkedIn
[6]Sign up to our e-bulletin

This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to
whom it is addressed and contains information that is or could be
privileged and/or confidential. If you, the reader of this message, are
not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy
this communication. If you have received this communication in error,
please notify me immediately by return email and delete the original
message.

This email is protectively marked OFFICIAL

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
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References

Visible links
2. http://www.nda.gov.uk/
3. http://nda.blog.gov.uk/
4. https://twitter.com/NDAgovuk
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuclear...
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Dear Mr Thomas

I apologies for the delay in responding to your request.

See attached - information requested.

Where you see blacked out text labelled s. 40 in the attached, we have withheld personal information i.e. names and contact information of officials (applying s.40 exemption Freedom of Information Act 2000).

Security sensitive information has also been withheld where you see blacked out text labelled s.24 (applying s.24 National Security exemption Freedom of Information Act 2000). When applying this exemption we must consider the public interest. We recognise that there is a strong public interest in releasing as much information on this topic as possible. There is a clear impact on academics studying nuclear weapon history and it is understood that withholding information on the reasons for decisions will likely damage trust in openness and transparency. There is, however, a far stronger public interest in maintaining the safety and security of the population by not releasing into the public domain any information which could prejudice national security. It is found that the potential consequences of releasing this information would damage the UK’s ability to safeguard national security and we therefore on balance believe the public interest is best served by withholding the requested information.

Some information has also been withheld on the basis that its release would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs (applying s.36 exemption Freedom of Information Act 2000). Where we have withheld information on this basis we have blacked out text labelled s.36. When applying this exemption we must consider the public interest. We recognise that full disclosure might help better inform the public of decision making processes, and that public authorities should be open and transparent and accountable for decisions made to help foster trust. However, we believe that it must be open to the public authorities involved in to deliberate with each other in confidence in order to manage the process of review and release of information from The National Archives. Release of the information requested would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs (section 36) by preventing the full and effective deliberations of the parties in considering and agreeing the appropriate disclosure status for security sensitive records. Disclosure would lead to less candid and robust deliberations by the parties involved. While the review regarding release of information is on-going for this collection, the need to ensure effective communications outweighs any benefits of disclosure at this current time. With the agreement of our Qualified Person, in whose reasonable opinion this exemption is engaged, the public interest has now been concluded and the balance of the public interest has largely been found to fall in favour of withholding the information covered by the section 36(2) (b-c) exemption.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request the NDA carry out an internal review, in the first instance contact [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Regards

Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
NDA, Herdus House,
Westlakes Science & Technology Park,
Moor Row, CA24 3HU
Tel. no. 01925802077

Please note that I work Mon – Thur from 8:30 – 14:30.

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