Got this from Raul Nieto yesterday (Sunday!). My reply is below.
I have established that Graham Mead
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/graham-mead/9/137/bb4is the managing director of Kent Messenger Limited. Does anyone know anything about this bloke or any of his fellow directors, particularly if they have any connections with local councils/councillors?
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From: Raul.Nieto@oft.gsi.gov.uk
To: Bald Eagle
CC: Simon.Chisholm@oft.gsi.gov.uk
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2011 14:28:11 +0100
Subject: RE: Kent Messenger Group
Dear Mr xxxx,
Thank you for your emails.
You made your application pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) on 4 August 2011. We do not envisage any problem to meet our legal obligation to reply to your request within the timeframe set out in section 10 of the Act, that is 20 working days from the receipt of your application. The substance of our response will also fully comply with our legal obligations under (and within the legal remits) of the Act.
Perhaps it would be helpful to indicate that the Office of Fair Trading only has jurisdiction to review the impact on competition resulting from this transaction. In a nutshell, that is whether it should be expected that the prices and/or the quality for readers and/or advertisers will substantially increase and/or decline as a result of this merger. The Office of Fair Trading does not have any legal remit to assess or decide on public interest matters. These refer to 'media plurality' considerations, that is to guarantee that there is sufficient representation of different editorial lines in the media.
I wonder whether, in your view, your concerns about 'the independence and integrity of local newspaper editors and reporters [being] compromised by any political motivation' refer primarily to public interest issues and that this proposed acquisition would substantially reduce the media plurality (in terms of different editorial lines) available to readers in Kent or any of the seven local areas where the merging parties' titles overlap.
Following our established procedures we will communicate any public interest representations to Ofcom and the Department of Culture and Sport, which, as you may know, have the remit to assess and decide respectively any public interest considerations. I am sure you will have seen this in practice in the recent case you mention. The publicly available information (on our website, companies house and/or any other public sources) provides third interested parties enough background to respond to our information request. The number of well informed and useful responses we have already received corroborates this.
The acquirer is Kent Messenger Limited, a well-known publisher of several titles in Kent, with other business interests in local/regional radio and online media businesses. I assume that when you asked for the details of the 'individuals backing this bid' you mean the details of the individuals owning Kent Messenger Limited, information which, to the extent requested by law, is publicly available. I presume that you are not requesting that we tell you who has written to us supporting and/or opposing this transaction. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Yours sincerely,
Raúl Nieto
Raúl Nieto | Principal Case Officer | Mergers Group| Office of Fair Trading | 2 Salisbury Sq. | London EC4Y 8JX | tel. +44(0)20 7211 5866|
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Dear Mr Nieto
Thank you for your most thorough and informative response. You are correct in your assumption that I requested only the names of the individuals who are responsible for putting the bid forward and not those who may have written to you regarding same.
Clearly I have misunderstood the role of the OFT in that I had assumed that it was within your organisation's remit to deal with the public interest issues I have raised. Thank you for your assurance that you will pass on my concerns to the relevant departments at Ofcom and the Department of Culture and Sport. Please would you be kind enough to put me in contact with whoever you pass my concerns on to.
I can confirm that in light of your very helpful reply I no longer wish to pursue my FoI request with the Office of Fair Trading. Please treat the FoI request as answered to my satisfaction.
Yours sincerely
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