Request for information regarding the Freedom of Information Act

Dear Mr Walker,

Freedom of Information request- ref. OCE040955

Thank you for your request for information which we received on 3 April
2009. Please accept my sincere apologies firstly for the Council's failure
to acknowledge your request, and for the delay in providing a response to
you. I hope that this has not caused you inconvenience.

In your request, you asked for the following information:

Can you tell me the total number of applications to your authority made
under the Freedom of Information Act and the cost of producing those
responses since it's introduction in 2000 broken down into each financial
year.

In addition to this, can you tell me the total number of applications and
the cost of these requests broken down into each financial year since 2000
that relate to media organisations.

For the remit of this request, media organisations should be considered to
be those concerned with televisual output (BBC, ITV etc), print
(newspapers) and web based media organisations.

With specific reference I would like the above information for the Express
& Star newspaper group which comprises their main newspaper, local
editions such as the Chronicle the Shropshire Star and for any requests
made by the Taxpayers Alliance organisation or representatives thereof.

I am pleased to provide the attached spreadsheet which details the total
number of requests received by Wolverhampton City Council to the end of
the financial year 2008/2009; estimated costs of processing those
applications; total number of requests received from media organisations;
and estimated costs of processing those requests. I have provided the
total number of requests received from all major newspapers and media
organisations, including the Express & Star and the Tax Payers' Alliance;
please note that requests from smaller organisations, including the
Chronicle newspaper, have been recorded as "Other media".

<<G Walker response.xls>>

Please note that the Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1
January 2005, and I am therefore unable to provide information about
requests received prior to this date.

The Council does not record the exact costs of processing freedom of
information requests and I am therefore unable to provide accurate figures
in relation to costs. However, I have estimated the average cost of
processing a request as at £100. This is based on the average amount of
time spent on a request, which is 4 hours, multiplied by an hourly rate of
£25 (which is the allowable hourly rate given in the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004 for calculating the costs of processing requests).

In the financial year 2007/2008, the Council received 231 requests from
employees in relation to the Single Status job evaluation exercise. The
cost of dealing with those requests has been worked out slightly
differently, in that the average amount of time spent on those requests
was 1.5 hours per request plus time taken considering exemptions and
checking/cross-referencing requests estimated at 48 hours, giving a total
of 394.5 hours.

If you have any queries in relation to the information provided, please
contact me via the details given below.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
please write to:

Mel Whyatt
Communications & Customer Relations Adviser
Wolverhampton City Council
Civic Centre, St Peter's Square
Wolverhampton
WV1 1SH
[1][Wolverhampton City Council request email]

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted
the complaints procedure provided by the council. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Amy Hardiman
FOI & Corporate Complaints Coordinator
Communications Team
Office of the Chief Executive
Wolverhampton City Council
01902 550363

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