FOI/EIR 25/26-370-Freedom of Information Department

Freedom of Information Expenditure for last 3 years

Received 31 October 2025

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information for the most recent full financial year available:
1. The total number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests handled.
2. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) and part-time employees involved in handling FOI requests.
3. The names of any software systems or tools used by the FOI team to manage or track requests.
4. The total annual cost of those software systems.
5. Any statistics or recorded information showing the average, median, and (if available) upper-quartile time spent per FOI request.
6. The total salary cost of each employee (or, if easier, the total salary expenditure for all FOI-handling staff).
7. Copies of any internal communications, reports, or evaluations discussing the cost or effectiveness of FOI handling.
8. Confirmation of whether the system used for FOI handling

Responded 3 November 2025

1.535
2. One FTE
3. Microsoft Excel
4. n/a (included with the Council’s Microsoft package)
5. Average – 1 hr 24 min, Median – 8 hr 58 min, Upper-Quartile – 13 hr 30 min.
6. Information Refused Under Section 40(1) – Personal Information.

7. Information Refused Under Section 12(4)(a) – Information Not Held

8. Yes, Microsoft Excel is also used in the management Subject Access Requests and Data Protection Requests.