To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007 (113799), Official Report, column 838-9W, on the Office for National Statistics, what the status is of each of the Freedom of Information applications made to the Office for National Statistics in 2006. (110532)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 January 2007:

As National Statistician I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the current status is of each of the Freedom of Information applications made to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2006. (110532)

The quarterly report Freedom of Information Act 2000, Statistics on the Implementation in Central Government which can be found in the House of Commons library, contains the statistics you require on the outcomes of Freedom of Information requests submitted to the Office for National Statistics. Reports have been published so far for the first three quarters of 2006.

In the final quarter of 2006, ONS received 29 requests, of these 3 are still out-standing, and 26 have been completed. Of the completed requests ONS provided the information in full in 8 cases and withheld the information in full or in part on 5 occasions. On 12 occasions ONS found that it did not hold the information, or that it was readily available elsewhere and on one occasion the request was found to be vexatious.