Department for Constitutional Affairs - People's Rights - Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information statistics January - March 2005

The first quarterly report providing statistics on implementation of the act across central government covers January to March 2005.

Departments of State reported receiving a total of around 7,700 "non-routine" information requests during the quarter. Across all monitored bodies, this figure was around 13,400, eighty-six per cent of which had been processed at the time of monitoring.
Eighty-two per cent of all monitored bodies' requests were processed "in time" in that they received a response within the statutory deadline of 20 working days, or were subject to a permitted deadline extension. This percentage excludes requests which were "on hold" because a fee had been charged, but had not yet been paid.
Of all "resolvable" requests (i.e. requests where a substantive response was possible), 56 per cent were granted in full, 13 per cent were withheld in part, and 18 per cent were withheld in full. The remaining requests had not yet received a substantive response.
Monitored bodies have had a total of 430 requests referred for Internal Review on the grounds that some or all information was withheld.