From: Sent: 16 April 2008 14:10 To: Michelanne Wilson Subject:

Dear Sir, Please could you send me all correspondence (emails, letters, minutes of meetings, transcriptions of telephone conversations) relating to the Commission's inquiries into whether the Midlands Industrial Council complies with the regulations governing donations to regulated donees. Also all details of the Commission's decision at the end of that inquiry and why it came to that decision. Kind regards

Dear ,

Our Ref: FOI 50 08 Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) dated 16 April 2008. The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days. You have requested all correspondence (emails, letters, minutes of meetings, transcriptions of telephone conversations) relating to the Commission's inquiries into whether the Midlands Industrial Council complies with the regulations governing donations to regulated donees. The Commission does hold information related to your query. Some of this information is subject to exemption due to the nature of the information. However, there are some documents that were not subject to the exemption and they are attached. We have redacted some of attached documents to remove personal data, complying with our duties under the Data Protection Act 1998, and to remove sensitive information relating to the exemptions below. The Electoral Commission has a statutory duty to monitor compliance with the provisions of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to party political funding. Some of the information you have requested is held by the Commission for the purpose of an investigation into whether a regulated person, and others, have complied with this law. Section 30(1)(a) of the Act exempts information which has been held at any time by a public authority for the purpose of any investigation which the authority has a duty to conduct with a view to it being ascertained whether there has been a chargeable offence. Section 30(2) of the Act exempts information which relates to the obtaining of information from confidential sources. It is the case that much of the information held by the Commission was provided in this manner for the purpose of the Commission’s inquiry and would therefore be subject to the exemption at section 30(2). These exemptions are subject to the public interest test. We acknowledge that there is a legitimate public interest in ensuring the transparency of party political funding and the Commission aims to promote such openness as far as possible. However, there are a number of factors that must be balanced against that. While the Commission has closed the investigation directly related to the Midlands Industrial Council, there still remains a strong public interest in withholding some of investigation materials. Disclosure of information gained during the investigation would be unfair and prejudicial to the individuals involved. The Commission also considered that some information was exempt

under section 44 of the Act in relation to disclosures which may breach Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, namely the right to a fair trial. Further, disclosure of information after such an investigation would severely affect the Commission’s ability to properly conduct investigations of this type in the future. This is because those involved would be far less willing to cooperate with the Commission in the knowledge that information they provided was likely to be put into the public domain. The public interest lies in enabling the Commission to conduct its investigations comprehensively in order to ensure full compliance with the party political funding rules.

FOI 50 08 list of documents an...

Re letter to Hazel Blears MP 0...

Letter from D Simpson 25-09-20...

Letter from LS to DW 6o607fina...

Letter to David MIC from LH.pd...

Letter to Ms Blears MIC from H...

Nre letter from H Blears 04-09...

Nre letter to Ms Blears 05-09-...

Re letter DWall- EGreenwood 25...

Re letter EG- David Wall 11040...

Re letter LKlein to PBradley D...

The Commission strives to be an open, transparent authority, but in some circumstances we cannot responsibly release requested information, and we ask for your understanding in this regard. If you are not satisfied with this response, please note that the Commission operates a review procedure, details of which are attached. Please also note that if you have exhausted all internal Commission review procedures and you are still not satisfied you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. Details of this procedure can be found on the ICO website: http://www.ico.gov.uk

Freedom-of-Information-and-Env...

Yours sincerely Michelanne Calhoun Wilson Legal Officer The Electoral Commission Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW Tel: 020 7271 0625 Fax: 020 7271 00505 www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Documents Attached: Name of File From To Date Sent Re letter Dwall-EGreenwood 250303

David Wall E Greenwood- the Electoral Commission

March 25, 2003

Re letter EG-David Wall 110403

E Greenwood- the Electoral Commission

David Wall April 11, 2003

Letter to David MIC from LH

David Wall Linda Hews- the Electoral Commission

September 2006

Letter to Ms Blears MIC from HM

Hilary Mundella- the Electoral Commission

Hazel Blears September 2006

Nre letter from H Blears 04-09-2006

Hazel Blears Sam Younger- the Electoral Commission

September 4, 2006

Nre letter to Ms Blears 05-09-2006

Sam Younger- the Electoral Commission

Hazel Blears September 5, 2006

Letter from D Simpson 25-09-2006

D Simpson Linda Hews- the Electoral Commission

September 25, 2006

Re letter to Hazel Blears MP 021006

Hilary Mundella- the Electoral Commission

Hazel Blears October 2, 2006

Letter from LS to DW 6o607

Lisa Klein- the Electoral Commission

David Wall June 6, 2007

Re letter LKlein to PBradley Dec2007GFinal

Lisa Klein- the Electoral Commission

P Bradley December 20, 2007

bojoye

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