Request
I would like to submit the following Freedom of Information request regarding such information as you hold in respect of the Rhodesian Army (Association) Archive. The Rhodesian Army Archive comprises c. 1,200 boxes of material including intelligence reports, operational instructions, policy debates and photographs. The archive was formerly held by the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum from where it was withdrawn by the Rhodesian Army Association and its location is now unknown. I understand that TNA is aware of the challenges that face the collection and that in the last decade it has continued to explore options actively to ensure its preservation in both the short and long term. The last report of the archive was that it had been the subject of consideration for acceptance by St Andrew’s University.
Please can you provide the following information:
1. Information, so far as it is available to The National Archives, on the current custodial status and custodian/place of deposit of the Rhodesian Army Archive (i.e. who holds it, where, in what capacity and with what access provisions).
2. Any advice, decisions, directions or guidance issued by the Foreign Office to TNA and/or its Archives Sector Leadership team or CEO’s Office regarding the archive
3. Any advice, decisions, directions or guidance issued by TNA or the Archives Sector Leadership team/ Places of Deposit Manager/CEO’s Office regarding the custody, transfer or deposit of the archive, or access to it
4. Relevant minutes and correspondence relating to the archive and the Rhodesian Army Association Museum Trust/Rhodesian Army Association from 2010 to present.
5. A copy of any catalogues or finding aids to the archive.
I understand the requested information is most likely to be held within TNA by the Archives Sector Leadership team, in particular the Places of Deposit Manager, and CEO’s Office. Records are likely to date from 2001 to the present, and it is the period from 2010 onwards (after the archive’s time at Bristol) that is of interest.
Outcome
Information withheld.
Response
The cost of compliance with your request will exceed the appropriate cost limit for determining whether the information is held, and for locating, retrieving and extracting the information. For further information about the appropriate cost limit please see the annex at the end of this email.
Under section 16 of the FOI Act we are obliged to provide advice and assistance on how you might be able to refine your request to allow us to comply within the cost limit.
We note that your request is comprised of 5 separate questions and covers information dating from a period of approximately 14 years. Questions 2, 3 and 4, when combined, are particularly broad-ranging in terms of the scope of information they seek to cover. We note that other categorisations in your request refer to information created externally and internally, and we note that you have also cited several different business areas in TNA where information may be found.
We do not anticipate that questions 1 and 5, if resubmitted in a newly refined request, would substantially impact upon the cost of compliance.
We therefore suggest that questions 2, 3 and 4 of your request could be refined in the following ways:
Revise the request to include either externally or internally generated information.
If the request is to be revised to only cover internally generated information, we would suggest the request could be further refined to cover information held by a particular business area (such as the CEO’s Office, or Archives Sector Leadership).
Revise the chronological scope of your request to cover a reduced range of years. The range of years you request to be covered may be dependent on how you would choose to refine other elements of your request. However, we would suggest that this be reduced to no more than a range of 5 years, or even less if other areas of your request remain broad-ranging.
You may also wish to consider further specifying what information you are seeking. For example, Q4 is at present framed as a catch-all request. Is there a particular issue or theme you are interested in requesting information about?
Please note that we are unable to guarantee that any refined requests would fall within the cost limit.
Explanatory annexe
Exemptions applied
Section 12: Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed an appropriate limit, which for central government departments like The National Archives, is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of twenty-four hours of work (either for one person or split amongst several people) in determining whether the department holds the information, as well as locating, retrieving and extracting the information. The cost is set at a flat rate of £25 per hour.
We estimate that it will take us in excess of this time to identify the appropriate information, and locate, retrieve and extract it as the scope of your request is too wide-ranging. Therefore, your request will not be processed further.
Further guidance on the application of this exemption can be found at:
Section 12 – Requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit | ICO