What is the average time taken to respond to FOI requests, broke down by department, over each of the last three years?
The information for the calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023 are provided in the tables below. Please note:
The statistics relate to the handling of requests for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018) / UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
The FOIA and EIRs both require public bodies to normally respond to written requests for information within 20 working days of receipt, with limited exceptions. The FOIA allows for a reasonable extension to the 20 working day deadline when considering a public interest tested exemption and the EIRs allow for an extension of a maximum of a further 20 working days if the request is complex and voluminous. This means that some requests that took over 20 working days to respond would still have been responded to within the statutory deadline.
Requests Received in 2021:
|
Group |
Average Time Taken (working days) |
|
Education & Public Services Group |
17.2 days |
|
Economy, Skills & Natural Resources Group |
18.9 days |
|
Health & Social Services Group |
15.2 days |
|
Office of the First Minister |
19.6 days |
|
Permanent Secretary’s Group |
19.7 days |
|
Not formally assigned* |
18.8 days |
Note: *These requests did not fall under any specific group area and were dealt with centrally by the Information Rights Unit.
Requests Received in 2022: (Note there was an organisational change in April 2022):
|
Group (pre-organisational change) |
Average Time Taken (working days) |
|
Education & Public Services Group |
15.9 days |
|
Economy, Skills & Natural Resources Group |
14.7 days |
|
Health & Social Services Group |
13.5 days |
|
Office of the First Minister Group |
15.2 days |
|
Permanent Secretary’s Group |
16.7 days |
|
Not formally assigned* |
10.8 days |
Note: *These requests did not fall under any specific group area and were dealt with centrally by the Information Rights Unit.
|
Group (post-organisational change) |
Average Time Taken (working days) |
|
Climate Change & Rural Affairs Group |
20.6 days |
|
Chief Operating Officer Group |
16.7 days |
|
Covid Recovery & Local Government Group |
10.8 days |
|
Education, Social Justice & Welsh Language Group |
18.5 days |
|
Economy, Treasury & Constitution Group |
19.7 days |
|
Health & Social Services Group |
12.9 days |
|
Office of the First Minister Group |
19.3 days |
|
Permanent Secretary’s Group |
21.4 days |
Requests Received in 2023:
|
Group |
Average Time Taken (working days) |
|
Climate Change & Rural Affairs Group |
16.4 days |
|
Chief Operating Officer Group |
18.0 days |
|
Covid Recovery & Local Government Group |
12.0 days |
|
Education, Social Justice & Welsh Language Group |
18.3 days |
|
Economy, Treasury & Constitution Group |
16.9 days |
|
Health & Social Services Group |
13.6 days |
|
Office of the First Minister Group |
19.9 days |
|
Permanent Secretary’s Group |
13.0 days |