FI16423

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information for the most recent full financial year available:

  1. The total number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests handled.
  2. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) and part-time employees involved in handling FOI requests.
  3. The names of any software systems or tools used by the FOI team to manage or track requests.
  4. The total annual cost of those software systems.
  5. Any statistics or recorded information showing the average, median, and (if available) upper-quartile time spent per FOI request.
  6. The total salary cost of each employee (or, if easier, the total salary expenditure for all FOI-handling staff).
  7. Copies of any internal communications, reports, or evaluations discussing the cost or effectiveness of FOI handling.
  8. Confirmation of whether the system used for FOI handling is also used for Subject Access Requests, complaints, or any other casework.

Response

  1. 1,117 (2024/25)
  2. One
  3. MS Office
  4. This is included as part of the Council's overall cost for Microsoft and not recorded separately.
  5. The Council does not hold this information as this is not recorded or documented.
  6. The information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act as the Council considers this information to be personal data providing this information would identify the salary of an individual officer.  Personal data is defined by Article 4(1) of GDPR and also Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the release of this data would contravene the data protection principles. 
  7. The Council does not hold this information as this is not recorded or documented.
  8. Yes, used for subject access requests and complaints.