FoI Costs

Summary

The requester asked for the cost of providing Freedom of Information responses over the past three financial years. The Department for Enterprise refused the request, stating they do not hold this specific data and would need to create it through substantial analysis.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2 September 2024 and responded to on 27 September 2024.
• The Department for Enterprise does not hold information on the specific costs of responding to individual FoI requests.
• Complying with the request would require creating or deriving information, which is not mandated by the Act.
• No specific officer is employed to track the time or cost spent on FoI responses.
• The response letter itself took 30 minutes to complete.

Data Disclosed

• 2024-09-02
• 2024-09-27
• 4095516
• 30 minutes
• three financial years

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015
• Section 8(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015

Original Request

Dear Sirs, Can you confirm the cost of providing FoI responses to requesters for the past three financial years, please? Yours faithfully,

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 4095516 27 September 2024

Dear ###,

This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

We write further to your request received 2 September 2024, which states:

"Dear Sirs,

Can you confirm the cost of providing FoI responses to requesters for the past three financial years, please?

Yours faithfully,"

Our response to your request is as follows:- Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance, we will be applying Section 11 of the Act to this response: Section 11(3)(a) and (b): Not required to fulfil request (a) the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that the applicant has requested;
(b) complying with the request for information would require the public authority to do one or more of the matters mentioned in section 8(3) (things a public authority is not required to do by the Act); Further to the above the following also applies. Section 8(3) Right of access to information held by public authorities

Nothing in the Act requires a public authority to —

(a) create or derive information from information that it holds;
(b) undertake research into, or analysis of, information that it holds; or
(c) undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds.
The Department is applying this practical refusal reason as it does not hold information as to the specific cost of providing responses to requests and would be required to complete significant compilation and analysis of information held in order assess the costs, for these reasons the Department for Enterprise is not obliged to comply with your request.

By way of a further explanation, the Freedom of Information Act does not require a public authority to maintain information about the cost or time spent in responding to individual requests for information. As no one officer is specifically employed to deal with these functions it would be time consuming to calculate even an estimated cost for this service. Should you wish to submit a fresh request in simplified terms please complete and submit the required form available on our website at www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of- information/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/. Should you require any assistance to reformulate your request please do not hesitate to contact us. Please quote the reference number 4095516 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

This response took 30 minutes to complete.