date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:32:26 +0100 from: "Palmer Dave Mr \(LIB\)" subject: ICO Investigation - Holland request - Response requirements (GOOD to: "Mcgarvie Michael Mr \(ACAD\)" , "Jones Philip Prof \(ENV\)" , "Osborn Timothy Dr \(ENV\)" , "Colam Jonathan Mr \(ISD\)" Gents, I just had a very interesting conversation with a gentleman by the name of James Cooper at the ICO Helpline. I had phoned him to enquire about the possibility of citing section 40 under FOIA at this stage - he consulted with colleagues and gave me the opinion that this would be accepted and considered by the ICO. More importantly, having given him the case reference number for our matter, he informed me that a case officer had not yet been assigned and that it might be some time prior to that happening! Ergo, I have no-one to speak to at the ICO about this case with specific responsibility for it, and, it appears nothing will be happening at the ICO for some time in regards this request. Finally, and most crucially, I queried the 20 working days 'deadline' for our submission to the ICO and was informed that there was no statutory force behind that time limit; it was there simply to 'encourage' institutions to respond in a timely manner. I outlined the fact that we were preparing a case under EIR and that several key figures and pieces of evidence were still in the process of being acquired, and, asked how firm the ICO would be on enforcing the deadline, or punishing us if we missed it. Mr. Cooper indicated that as nothing much would be happening with the information we sent to the ICO that they would be minded to allow us some 'slack' on the response time, as long as it was not indefinite. Indeed, he suggested that we either provide an alternative date, or, contact them we have our 'case' assembled and tell them that we are ready to transfer the requested information to them.... In short, we have a lot more time to construct a well-reasoned case on this matter than their correspondence of 2 June 2009 would otherwise indicate. I suggest that I write the ICO to confirm this conversation with Mr. Cooper so as to 'nail' their position in place - I don't want to be hammered by the ICO in a Decision Notice for bad process if the ICO themselves have given us the go-ahead for that process... Do you concur?. I would further suggest that we work to gather more evidence to support our case (e.g. IPCC input) so that when we do submit our case, it is as strong as possible. Further evidence would greatly assist our claims under EIR in particular. The outline of that evidence has been already noted in my earlier emails to Tim & Phil. I will continue with the work on the intellectual framework of the case under both FOIA and EIR and will submit on Friday if possible (more likely early next week?) The final question is how we approach the issue of providing ALL the requested documents. We could simply defer what we would have said by 26 June to whatever date we do respond, or we could try to flush out their position earlier than that - any comments/ideas? I consider this very good news that will assist us in preparing as robust a case as possible. ____________________________ David Palmer Information Policy & Compliance Manager University of East Anglia Norwich, England NR4 7TJ Information Services Tel: +44 (0)1603 593523 Fax: +44 (0)1603 591010