Late answers

The request was partially successful.

Dear Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland),

How much has OFMDFM spent on Special Advisers since May 2007, broken down by (i) salary; (ii) pension contributions; (iii) expenses; (iv) office costs; and (v) other costs?

Since May 2011 how many FOI requests have OFMDFM received?

How many are answered within 20 working days?

How many are answered after the 20 working days?

What is the reason for each late reply?

Do the Ministers Special Advisers read each reply before it is read and if so why?

Since May 2011 how many written questions has the department received?

In relation to Standing Order 20 (B) which states that a written answer 'shall' be answered by the end of ten working days after it is published how many have missed this target?

What is the reason for each?

Have the Ministers taken any action to abide by the Assembly's target?

If a question is answered late do the Ministers send their apologies to each along with an explanation?

Yours faithfully,

Ben

Dear Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland),

Just to clarify as you will need it my surname is Brown.

Yours faithfully,

Ben

Dear Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland),

Why is this response delayed? By law I should have received a response by the 22 June 2012.

Ben

OFMDFM FOI,

Mr Brown

We are not in a position to respond to your request at this time as it is still under consideration.

Many thanks

Karen Davidson
Information Management and Central Advisory Branch
OFMDFM
A5.18 Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SR

show quoted sections

OFMDFM FOI,

1 Attachment

Mr Brown
 
Please see attached correspondence.
 
Many thanks
 
Karen Davidson
Information Management and Central Advisory Branch
OFMDFM
A5.18 Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SR
 
 

Dear Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland)'s handling of my FOI request 'Late answers'.

Firstly why does the department always fail to answer my requests within 20 working days as set down by legislation?

Secondly I would like to appeal the decision not to answer my questions. It is your determination that my request be turned down as it is prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs. I disagree. The general public are interested in the answers to these questions and furthermore it seems the department is ashamed of the answers. Also with the Assembly in recess for 2 months then one wonders if these answers will ever see the light of day!! By declaring in this case what a special adviser was paid or the number of FOI requests answered late it is not going to bring about the fall of the western states!! OFMDFM is quick to defend Assembly protocols but if these questions had have been answered in the Assembly or to the general public on time or even close to time then OFMDFM FOI staff would not be bumbling from one PR disaster to the next.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/la...

Yours faithfully,

Ben Brown

OFMDFM FOI,

1 Attachment

Mr Brown

Please see attached correspondence.

Many thanks

Karen Davidson
Information Management and Central Advisory Branch
OFMDFM
A5.18 Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SR

Tel: 028 9052 0088

Dear Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Northern Ireland),

I received a letter from your office in July regarding my internal review. A response was promised to me by 8 August 2012. Two months later will you send me that reply?

Yours faithfully,

Ben

Anderson, Moira,

1 Attachment

Mr Brown,
Please see the attached response in relation to your requests to this Department.

Moira Anderson
Information Management and Central Advisory Branch (IMCAB)
OFMDFM
Room A5.18
Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
BELFAST
BT4 3SR

Email: [email address]

Rodney Breen left an annotation ()

Has this enquiry ever actually been answered? As far as I can see the eventual responses here refer to a different enquiry. Tip for FOI Officers: it's always best to quote the original request in your response, to avoid confusion.