Delaying tactics

To our request for information, dated 22 October 2008, the Department for Transport is still struggling to provide a coherent reply. They have now postponed the conclusion of their second internal review on this FOI matter until the 27th of February 2009 (LINK). Four months for a simple question…!

No more forthcoming, the Metropolitan Police, have initially put off their response to our complaint until the 18th of February. “We hope to complete our internal review no later than 18 February 2009. Should there be any unforeseen delay we will contact you and update you as soon as possible”, only to advise us on the 19th of February that, due to unforeseen circumstances, they had been unable to meet the response time and that “We hope to complete our internal review no later than 27 February 2009. Should there be any unforeseen delay we will contact you and update you as soon as possible” (LINK). And so we are going on and on…

No matter that the Information Commissioner’s guidance to the FOI Act states clearly that “a reasonable time for completing an internal review is 20 working days from the date of the request for review” and that “in no case should the total time taken exceed 40 working days”, the Met have their own rhythm.

Cunning strategy, one might suspect: these cautious delaying tactics would give them more time for fixing ‘a few little things’ and limiting the embarrassment.

Somehow, I feel sorry for our humble public servants. In the quicksands of today’s politics, power struggles and uncertainty, they may find it difficult to decide when to stay still, when to jump, and which side of the fence to fall down on.

Besides, considering all the laws that our officials routinely defy nowadays, a breach of the FOI rules is a mere bagatelle.

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UPDATE 1: On the 27th of February 2009, the Met sent us a surprise answer: "We hope to complete your review no later than 13 March 2009. Should there be any further delay, I will contact you and update you as soon as possible."

UPDATE 2: On the 13th of March the Met replied: "We hope to complete your review no later than 27 March 2009. This review is near completion and I will be in contact with you shortly to update you on the status of this case. Should there be any further delay, I will contact you and update you as soon as possible. "

UPDATE 3: And on the 27th of March the answer was: "We hope to complete your review no later than 17 April 2009. Should there be any unforeseen delay, I will contact you and update you as soon as possible."

UPDATE 4: On the 17th of April the Met duly informed us: "We hope to complete your review no later than 1 May 2009. Should there be any unforeseen delay, I will contact you and update you as soon as possible."

35 years

On the 8th of February, 35 years ago, the Gaul sank in the Barents Sea, during a severe storm. None of its 36 crew survived.

A few small notes in the 13 February 1974 edition of Lloyd’s List, reproduced below, gave the first details about the search for the missing trawler.

Over the following days, Lloyd’s List published several brief reports on the progress of the search operations:

The unsuccessful search for the Gaul was closed at 15.00 hours GMT on the 15th of February 1974.

On the 19th of February the Department of Trade and Industry ordered an official inquiry into the loss of the Gaul.

The last Nimrod search operation ordered by the Prime Minister on the 20th February 1974 ended two days later without success.

The wreck of the Gaul was only discovered twenty-three years later, in 1997.

In 2004, the Re-opened Formal Investigation into the loss of the vessel concluded that the 36 fishermen of the Gaul had died at their own hands.

Today, 35 years after the tragedy, the truth about what caused the loss of the Gaul still remains unacknowledged, walled inside a 21st century edifice of political spin.