Please provide the following FOI statistics produced since 1st Jan 2008

Message sent on behalf of Michael Armstrong
Regards
L Howe
Freedom of Information Team

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Dear Mr Kloot,

Thank you for request of 4 July 2009 in which you asked for the following
information about HMRC's FOI requests from the 1 January 2008:-

1) Total number of requests handled
2) % of requests responded to within the 20 days
3) % of requests refused.
4) % of requests refused because they would exceed the £600 limit
5) % of requests refused because they would take longer than 3 days

To some extent your request repeats earlier requests made by you and
answered by HMRC so I could decline to deal with those parts as duplicated
requests (see section 14(2) Freedom of Information Act) but on this
occasion will answer again.

I think that your questions (4) and (5) are one and the same thing; the
appropriate limit of £600 based on staff time of £25 per hour equates to
3½ days work. HMRC's consistent policy and practice is to decline to
process requests where the fees limit is exceeded because we believe that,
by setting the limit at £600, Parliament struck the right balance between
an applicant's right to know and level disruption in terms of costs and
distraction from its core business that a public authority should
reasonably be expected to incur to give effect to that right.

Under section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 information that is
reasonably available by other means is exempt from disclosure. The
Ministry of Justice publishes Central Govt Departments' performance on FOI
at this link
[1]http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/f...

Figures for 2008, which is the last full year available, can be found here
[2]http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/d...
on pages 17 and 19.

Figures for the first quarter of 2009, the latest available, are here
[3]http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/d...
on pages 12 and 14.

If you are not happy with this reply you may request a review by writing
to HMRC FOI Team, Room 4/52, 100 Parliament Street London SWIA 2BQ or by
e-mail to [4][email address]. You must request a review
within 2 months of the date of this letter. It would assist our review if
you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and why you are
dissatisfied.

If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner will not usually consider a case unless you have
exhausted the internal review procedure provided by HMRC. He can be
contacted at The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

John Sharpe

Governance & Security

HM Revenue & Customs

Room 4/52

100 Parliament Street

London

SW1A 2BG

Fax 020 7147 0666

[5][email address]

The information in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and may
be subject to legal professional privilege. Unless you are the intended
recipient or his/her representative you are not authorised to, and must
not, read, copy, distribute, use or retain this message or any part of it.
If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender
immediately.

HM Revenue & Customs computer systems will be monitored and communications
carried on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system
and for lawful purposes.

The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs are not liable for any
personal views of the sender.

This e-mail may have been intercepted and its information altered.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

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1. http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/f...
2. http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/d...
3. http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/d...
4. mailto:[email address]
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