Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Freedom of Information
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff in his Department are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests; and if he will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work.
Answered by Michael Shanks
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not have a specific number of staff tasked with processing and responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. On receipt, FOI requests are allocated to officials in the area of the Department relevant to the subject of the request, who then provide the response.
The Department’s Information Rights Team (IRT) provides advice and assistance to staff on the application of information rights legislation. The IRT consists of seven members of staff.
FOI requests vary considerably from case-to-case in terms of complexity and effort required to provide a response. It is not possible to estimate the annual cost of responding to all the FOI requests the department receives.
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