From: Mr. M. Barbet, FOI Focal Point,
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Level 03, Zone I, Desk 40, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB

Switch Board:	0207 218 9000
Mr Neil Gould	Reference:	
	19-12-2007-164826-003	
(ngould@hkstar.com)	Date:
10th January 2008	
Dear Mr Gould,

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1.		Thank you for your email of 17th December 2007 regarding the release of the DIS ‘UFO’ files. Your request has been considered as a request for information under the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

2.		Currently a number of files are being reviewed and prepared for release. However, there are various administrative procedures which must be completed first, until these have been completed and the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council has approved the necessary Lord Chancellor’s Instruments, it is not possible to advise you yet of the provisional date for the initial release of files. Likewise, subsequent releases will also be subject to the completion of various administrative procedures and the approval of the necessary Lord Chancellor’s Instruments, therefore, subsequent planned release dates are also not yet known.

3.		If you are unhappy with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Director of Information Exploitation, 6th Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail Info-XD@mod.uk). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

4.		If you remain unhappy following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate the case until the internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner’s website, http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
1.	
Yours sincerely,

(signed) M. Barbet