Cost of FOIs

The request was successful.

Dear Fife Council,

Please can you tell me how many Freedom Of Information requests you have received every year for the last five years (2014-2019) and how much it has cost the council to respond to FOIs each year.

Yours faithfully,

Alasdair Russell

Gemma Harrison, Fife Council

Dear Alasdair Russell,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Thank you for your information request dated and received 21^st October
2020, our ref: 32982. This is being dealt with in terms of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

We are presently assessing your request and may be in touch soon to ask
for further clarification or to offer advice and assistance if we are not
able to fulfil your request in its present form.

The legislation allows us up to 20 working days from the date that we
receive a valid request, including any clarification we require, to make a
final response. We will be in touch within 20 working days of receipt of
your initial request to provide our response or to seek clarification
where necessary. We hope to provide you with the information you are
looking for at an earlier date where possible.

Due to the current circumstances, the majority of Fife Council staff are
unable to work in their normal workplace. All requests are being dealt
with as quickly as possible, however in some cases this may cause a delay
in accessing the data you have requested. In circumstances where a delay
is likely to be caused due to problems with access, an update will be
provided to you.

Yours sincerely,

Gemma

Gemma Harrison
Information Management & Requests
Fife Council

 

 

[1]FACTS

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
2. http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/privacy

Gemma Harrison, Fife Council

Dear Alasdair Russell,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

I refer to your information request dated and received 21^st October 2020,
our ref: 32982. Please find the request and our response below.

Request

Please can you tell me how many Freedom Of Information requests you have
received every year for the last five years (2014-2019) and how much it
has cost the council to respond to FOIs each year.

Response

2014/15 - Number of FOI’s = 1,339 and Cost = Information not held
2015/16 – Number of FOI’s = 1,707 and Cost = Information not held
2016/17 – Number of FOI’s = 1,982 and Cost = Costs held for (Dec 16 – Mar
17) = £23,250
2017/18 – Number of FOI’s = 2,203 and Cost = £74,085
2019/20 – Number of FOI’s = 1,575 and Cost = £85,379.

Note –

Information is only held in Financial years.

These are the costs that are held on the case management system relating
to cost of staff time to collate and respond to FOI requests. Information
is only held on the system for three years and so we cannot provide costs
prior to December 2016, this information is not held in terms of Section
17 of the Act – Information not held.

Over the past few years these costs have been recorded more effectively,
which may be the reason for the rise in cost during 2019/20 against
2017/2018. However, for further information, the decline in numbers being
received in 2019/20 was due to a change in the process of recording
environmental (EIR) requests.

I trust this meets your requirements.

I would like to draw your attention to the copyright situation in relation
to the material.

The council holds the copyright for the material provided and it may be
reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring
specific permission. This is subject to the material not being used in a
derogatory manner or in a misleading context. The source of the material
must be acknowledged as Fife Council when being reproduced as part of
another publication or service.

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, you
have the right to request a review of the decision. Please write to: Head
of Legal & Democratic Services, Finance & Corporate Services, Fife House,
North Street, Glenrothes, KY7 5LT or email to [1][email address].
The law provides for you to make this request up to 60 working days from
when we received your enquiry or 40 working days from when you receive
this correspondence whichever is the later date. Where the outcome of the
review fails to resolve the matter to your complete satisfaction you have
the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision
[2]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal

Fife Council will consider and seek to resolve any request to the Head of
Legal & Democratic Services that falls outside these time scales.

Yours sincerely,

Gemma

Gemma Harrison
Information Management & Requests
Fife Council

[3]FACTS

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal
3. https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
4. http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/privacy