FOI Requests received, 2018 – 2022
Date of request: 3 March 2023
Reference: 307-23
Request
1) How many FOI requests have you received in the last 5 years (broken down by year)
2) How many FOI requests were responded to with the answers to the request
3) How many FOI requests were denied?
4) If possible, Why were the FOI Requests denied?
Response
In relation to question 1, please see the table below showing the number of Freedom of Information Requests received in each of the last five calendar years.
| Year | FOI Requests received |
| 2018 | 1633 |
| 2019 | 1619 |
| 2020 | 1317 |
| 2021 | 1583 |
| 2022 | 1408 |
The additional information requested has been provided below for each year, in the format in which it is held. In relation to questions 2 and 3, we have provided for each year a table showing the recorded outcomes of each request. ‘BAU’ refers to a response that was dealt with as Business as Usual rather than through the Freedom of Information route. ‘NCND’ indicates a response in which we neither confirmed nor denied whether information was held. ‘Partial’ refers to a response in which some of the requested information was provided, while other parts were refused.
In relation to question 4, where a request has been refused or partially refused, this will have been in accordance with one or more sections of the Freedom of Information Act. For each year, we have provided tables showing the total numbers of requests where this was the case, broken down by the specific section/exemption applied. Further information relating to Freedom of Information exemptions and the reasons for which requests may be refused can be found here.
2018
In 2018 a total of 1,633 Freedom of Information Requests were recorded. The outcomes were as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information released? | Total |
| Closed BAU | 30 |
| Closed No Clarification | 68 |
| Duplicate | 9 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 505 |
| Link to Published Information | 9 |
| NCND | 59 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 824 |
| Partial | 87 |
| Partial NCND | 21 |
| Withdrawn | 16 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the tables below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||
| S12 | 379 | S21 | 1 | S23 | 1 | S21 | 1 | S21 | 1 | ||||
| S14 | 8 | S22 | 2 | S27 | 1 | S31 | 12 | S38 | 6 | ||||
| S21 | 56 | S23 | 1 | S30 | 11 | S38 | 1 | S40 | 1 | ||||
| S22 | 1 | S24 | 23 | S31 | 11 | S40 | 1 | Total | 8 | ||||
| S23 | 34 | S30 | 26 | S38 | 2 | Total | 15 | ||||||
| S24 | 6 | S31 | 16 | S40 | 2 | ||||||||
| S30 | 19 | S38 | 5 | Total | 28 | ||||||||
| S31 | 26 | S40 | 4 | ||||||||||
| S40 | 106 | S43 | 2 | ||||||||||
| S41 | 1 | Total | 80 | ||||||||||
| S43 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 638 |
2019
In 2019 a total of 1,619 Freedom of Information Requests were recorded. The outcomes were recorded as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information released? | Total |
| Closed – Section 8 | 2 |
| Closed BAU | 24 |
| Closed No Clarification | 76 |
| Duplicate | 23 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 445 |
| Link to Published Information | 10 |
| NCND | 44 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 809 |
| Partial | 111 |
| Partial NCND | 26 |
| Transferred | 1 |
| Withdrawn | 20 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the tables below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd Exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||
| S12 | 349 | S22 | 1 | S23 | 2 | s30 | 2 | S27 | 1 | ||||
| S14 | 2 | S23 | 1 | S24 | 1 | S31 | 5 | s31 | 2 | ||||
| S21 | 23 | S24 | 17 | s27 | 1 | S38 | 3 | S38 | 2 | ||||
| S23 | 20 | S30 | 10 | S30 | 7 | S40 | 1 | S40 | 2 | ||||
| S24 | 15 | S31 | 23 | S31 | 18 | Total | 11 | Total | 7 | ||||
| S26 | 1 | S38 | 13 | S38 | 2 | ||||||||
| S30 | 23 | S40 | 8 | S40 | 2 | ||||||||
| S31 | 23 | S41 | 1 | S44 | 2 | ||||||||
| s38 | 2 | Total | 74 | Total | 35 | ||||||||
| S40 | 116 | ||||||||||||
| S41 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| S43 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| S44 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 579 | ||||||||||||
2020
In 2020 a total of 1,317 Freedom of Information Requests were recorded. The outcomes were recorded as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information Released? | Sum of Count |
| Closed – Section 8 | 23 |
| Closed BAU | 21 |
| Closed No Clarification | 37 |
| Duplicate | 3 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 316 |
| Link to Published Information | 1 |
| NCND | 26 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 737 |
| Partial | 99 |
| Partial NCND | 28 |
| Withdrawn | 6 |
| Withdrawn – COVID-19 | 12 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the table below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd Exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||
| S12 | 236 | S22 | 1 | S24 | 1 | S31 | 2 | S38 | 1 | ||||
| S14 | 3 | S23 | 1 | S30 | 2 | S38 | 2 | S44 | 1 | ||||
| S21 | 22 | S24 | 9 | S31 | 10 | Total | 4 | Total | 2 | ||||
| S22 | 4 | S30 | 3 | S38 | 1 | ||||||||
| S23 | 14 | S31 | 27 | S40 | 4 | ||||||||
| S24 | 23 | S38 | 4 | Total | 18 | ||||||||
| S30 | 15 | S40 | 12 | ||||||||||
| S31 | 21 | S44 | 8 | ||||||||||
| S38 | 2 | Total | 65 | ||||||||||
| S40 | 111 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 451 |
2021
In 2021, the way we record Freedom of Information Requests changed. Up to 15th September 2021, we recorded statistics within Excel. After this date, these statistics were recorded on a different system, with data retrieved using Qlik Sense.
For 2021 as a whole, a total of 1,583 Freedom of Information Requests were recorded. Please see the additional information requested below, separated by the period for which requests were recorded on Excel and Qlik respectively.
Up to 15/09/2021, 1138 requests were logged. Outcomes were recorded as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information Released? | Sum of count |
| Closed – S8 | 70 |
| Closed – Section 8 | 2 |
| Closed BAU | 13 |
| Closed No Clarification | 27 |
| Duplicate | 3 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 283 |
| NCND | 24 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 551 |
| Partial | 124 |
| Partial NCND | 24 |
| Transferred | 3 |
| Withdrawn | 1 |
| Total | 1125 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the table below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd Exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||||||||||||
| S12 | 210 | S22 | 1 | S24 | 2 | S27 | 1 | S30 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| S14 | 6 | S23 | 2 | S27 | 2 | S30 | 1 | S31 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| S21 | 46 | S24 | 6 | S30 | 3 | S31 | 4 | S38 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| S22 | 7 | S30 | 7 | S31 | 6 | S38 | 1 | S40 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| S23 | 8 | S31 | 19 | S38 | 1 | S40 | 4 | Grand Total | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| S24 | 17 | S38 | 7 | S40 | 4 | S43 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| S30 | 14 | S40 | 11 | S43 | 1 | S44 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S31 | 30 | S43 | 1 | S44 | 2 | Grand Total | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| S34 | 1 | S44 | 7 | Grand Total | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| S38 | 1 | Grand Total | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| S40 | 99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| S41 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| S43 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Total | 441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
From 16 September 2021, a total of 445 further Freedom of Information Requests were logged having been received in 2021. Outcomes were recorded as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information Released? | Total |
| Closed – S* | 4 |
| Closed BAU | 2 |
| Closed No Clarification | 6 |
| Duplicate | 3 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 148 |
| NCND | 4 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 231 |
| Partial | 28 |
| Partial NCND | 1 |
| Transferred | 2 |
| Withdrawn | 5 |
| Total | 434 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the table below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd Exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||
| S12 | 135 | S22 | 1 | S24 | 1 | S23 | 1 | S38 | 1 | ||||
| S21 | 6 | S24 | 3 | S30 | 1 | S31 | 1 | Total | 1 | ||||
| S22 | 1 | S31 | 1 | S31 | 1 | Total | 2 | ||||||
| S23 | 2 | S38 | 1 | S40 | 1 | ||||||||
| S30 | 2 | S40 | 2 | Total | 4 | ||||||||
| S31 | 8 | S44 | 2 | ||||||||||
| S38 | 2 | Total | 10 | ||||||||||
| S40 | 31 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 187 |
2022
In 2022 a total of 1,408 Freedom of Information Requests were recorded. The outcomes were as follows. Please note that in some cases the outcome was not recorded, meaning the total shown does not match the total requests received.
| Information Released? | Total |
| Closed – S* | 11 |
| Closed BAU | 7 |
| Closed No Clarification | 30 |
| Duplicate | 9 |
| Exemption Applicable (No information released) | 389 |
| Link to published information | 2 |
| NCND | 23 |
| No Exemption Applicable (Information released) | 735 |
| Partial | 129 |
| Partial NCND | 9 |
| Withdrawn | 8 |
| Total | 1352 |
Where refusals/exemptions have been recorded, these are shown in the table below. In some cases, more than one exemption applied.
| 1st Exemption | Total | 2nd Exemption | Total | 3rd Exemption | Total | 4th Exemption | Total | 5th Exemption | Total | ||||
| S12 | 365 | S12 | 2 | S12 | 1 | S30 | 1 | S31 | 1 | ||||
| S14 | 4 | S22 | 2 | S23 | 1 | S31 | 3 | S38 | 1 | ||||
| S21 | 34 | S23 | 2 | S27 | 1 | S40 | 1 | S40 | 1 | ||||
| S22 | 3 | S24 | 6 | S30 | 3 | Total | 5 | Total | 3 | ||||
| S23 | 11 | S30 | 4 | S31 | 5 | ||||||||
| S24 | 9 | S31 | 11 | S40 | 2 | ||||||||
| S26 | 1 | S38 | 5 | S43 | 1 | ||||||||
| S30 | 10 | S40 | 21 | S44 | 2 | ||||||||
| S31 | 28 | Total | 53 | Total | 16 | ||||||||
| S38 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| S40 | 89 | ||||||||||||
| S42 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| S43 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| S44 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 560 |
Finally, please note that compliance statistics relating to Freedom of Information Requests are provided to the ICO at the start of each month, for the previous month. Occasionally, requests may be logged after this point that had not been identified by the point at which data was collected. The data provided in the above response was collected at the time of your request. As such, there may be some discrepancies between the information provided above and the statistics that have previously been provided to the ICO for the same timeframes. While the figures provided here are more likely to be accurate for the reasons described, they are nonetheless subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting those data.