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PROTECT
29th July 2013
Case Reference Number IRQ0503896
Dear Ms Oliver
Request for Information
Further to our acknowledgement of 5 July 2013 we are now in a position to provide you with a response to your request for information dated 1 July 2013.
As you know we have dealt with your request in accordance with your ‘right to know’ under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), which entitles you to be provided with a copy of any information ‘held’ by a public authority, unless an appropriate exemption applies.
Request
In your e-mail of 1 July 2013 you asked us to provide you with information relating to an agreement between the ICO and Cheshire East Council (CEC) regarding CEC not performing internal reviews of requests to it relating to the Lyme Green Report, and these being passed directly on to the ICO.
Information Not Held
I can confirm that the ICO does not hold any record or information relating to any such agreement, as referred to in your request. It is most likely that if CEC contacted the ICO regarding this situation, it would have been verbally to our helpline, to ask for advice.
In this type of situation, where a public authority has nobody who can undertake an internal review for whatever reason, it is likely that ICO helpline staff would advise that under FOIA, internal reviews are not obligatory and it is possible for it to waive its right to undertake one. It is also likely that the ICO would advise that, in such a situation, it would accept a complaint without an internal review having been undertaken.
Review Procedure
I hope that this provides you with the information you require. However, if you are dissatisfied with the response you have received and wish to request a review of our decision or make a complaint about how your request has been handled you should write to the Information Governance Department at the address below or e-mail informationgovernance@ico.gsi.gov.uk.
Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40 working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the Commissioner.
If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint handler under the legislation. To make such an application, please write to the First Contact Team, at the address below or visit the ‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.
A copy of our review procedure is available here.
Yours sincerely
Richard Sisson
Lead Information Governance Officer
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
