§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the charging policy of his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible in respect of inquiries under the code of practice on access to Government.
§ Mr. Dorrell[holding answer 22 November 1994]: In line with guidance on charging produced by the Office of Public Service and Science, which recognises the diversity of cost and operational structure across the range of bodies implementing the code, my Department has developed the following scheme of charges for information under the code of practice on access to Government information.
My Department and the two agencies for which I am responsible make no charge for responding to straightforward enquiries. Charges will, however, be made where the cost of responding to the inquiry would exceed a threshold—currently £100. This will normally represent half of one day's work charged at an average cost for staff undertaking the work.
Above the £100 threshold, charges may be made according to the average daily rates of the staff undertaking the work. Charges are designed to cover, but not exceed, the cost of processing the request for information and are payable whether or not the request for information can be supplied in full. Where it is proposed to make a charge, the Department and its agencies will write to the inquirer and ask them to pay in advance for the material requested.
Those responding to inquiries will at all stages keep applicants informed of the likely charges to be made by providing an estimated charge, which is normally payable before further work is undertaken.