Asking DEFRA questions

I indicated yesterday that I’d be asking DEFRA for information about the science that the Moorland Association instructed them to take into account. This is what I asked:

This is an information request under the EIR and/or FOI regulations. Please reply well within the maximum 20 working days that is allowed – this is a simple request.

My information request concerns the redaction of information by DEFRA in response to a previous EIR/FOI request. The document disclosed was a letter from the Moorland Association’s Chair, Nick Downshire, to DEFRA’s Marie Southgate, which was dated 18 September 2019.  You can view the letter here: https://markavery.info/2020/02/24/opening-the-lid-on-moorland-association-pressure-on-defra/

My question is about the three or more documents/references redacted at the end of the letter in the section entitled ‘Scientific information to be considered’ and before the section ‘Timetable’.

Questions:

1. What were the titles of these scientific writings?

2. Why were they redacted from the released letter?

3. Please send me, by email, copies of the full scientific writings previously redacted.

Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you in a matter of days rather than weeks as this is a perfectly reasonable and simple request.

Yours sincerely,

I got the standard automated response as follows:

Thank you for your email to the Department for Environment, Food  & Rural Affairs. We have a target of replying to emails within 20 working days where a response is required, and 20 working days where a case is handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

It’s not actually a target – it’s a duty, and the actual requirement is to respond as follows:

A public authority holding the requested information has a duty to communicate that information to the requester ‘as soon as possible and no later than 20 working days after the date of receipt of the request’.

https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1622/time-for-compliance-eir-guidance.pdf

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