§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Prime Minister (1) what the policy of his Office is for ensuring responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 are completed within 40 days; and what their procedure is to achieve this; [33474]
(2) what the period of time elapsed is for the oldest outstanding request for information under the Data Protection Act 1998, since receipt of the (a) original request and (b) administration fee; [33446]
(3) what his estimate is of the average cost of processing each information request under the Data Protection Act 1998; [33441]
(4) what administration fees are charged by his Office for information requests made under the Data Protection Act 1998; [33458]
(5) what percentage of responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 No. 10 has completed (a) within 40 days of receipt of the £10 fee, (b) between 40 and 60 days of and (c) over 60 days after receiving the administration fee; [33465]
(6) how many requests the Department has received under the Data Protection Act 1998 for (a) electronically held information and (b) paper documentation; [33579]
(7) how many responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 his Office has completed (a) within 40 days of receipt of the £10 administration fee, (b) between 40 and 60 days of and (c) over 60 days after receiving the administration fee; [33436]
(8) how many responses the Department has completed to requests for information made under the Data Protection Act 1998 for (a) electronically held information and (b) paper documentation; [33572]
(9) what the longest period of time elapsed is between receiving (a) the administration fee and providing the information requested and (b) a request for information and providing the information requested, under the Data Protection Act 1998; [33451]
(10) what his procedure is for responding to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998; if he will place a copy in the Library; and if he will make a statement; [33479]
(11) how many responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 have been completed (a) within 40 days, (b) between 40 and 60 days and (c) over 60 days after receiving the original letter; and how many are still outstanding; [33567]
§ The Prime MinisterOur policy is to respond to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 as quickly and as accurately as possible and in accordance with the data protection principles.
For the purposes of the Act the Prime Minister's Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. The responsibility for co-ordinating responses to requests for information under the Act falls to the Cabinet Office Openness Unit. They 260W arrange searches for personal data from relevant parts of the Department in accordance with the provisions of the Act and collate and send the responses.
The Act requires that a response be sent to anyone seeking information under the Act within 40 calendar days of sufficient information being received to verify the identity of the applicant and the location of the information being sought. The Cabinet Office procedures for handling requests for information under the Act are designed to ensure that wherever possible responses are sent within 40 days. Although the Act permits an administration fee of up to £10 to be charged, it is not currently the Cabinet Office policy to levy such a fee.
Since 1 March 2000, when the Act came into force, the Cabinet Office has responded to 24 requests for information within 40 days (83 per cent.), three between 40 and 60 days (10 per cent.) and two over 60 days (7 per cent.), with the longest being 86 days. This excludes those cases where the request was redirected to another Department, or the Cabinet Office has asked for further information from the applicant and no response was received. At present the Cabinet Office has four requests outstanding, one of which was received over 40 days ago.
Those making requests for information under the Act do not usually distinguish between the format in which the personal data are held when submitting a request. The time and effort required to process a request under the Act varies considerably depending on the nature and complexity of the request and no estimate is available of the average cost.