asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were their criteria in choosing Frontier Economics Limited to review the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.[HL7941]
Frontier Economics was selected from the HMRC framework agreement list for pre-approved consultancy services on the basis of their expertise in economic consultancy. They have a proven track record of producing high quality work for a number of government departments.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the qualifications of Frontier Economics Limited to review the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.[HL7942]
Frontier Economics was selected from the HMRC framework agreement list for pre-approved consultancy services on the basis of their expertise in economic consultancy. It has a proven track record of producing high quality work for a number of government departments.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the object and purpose of the review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by Frontier Economics Limited.[HL7943]
The object and purpose of the review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 undertaken by Frontier Economics Limited was:
to examine the cost of delivering FoI across central government and the wider public sector;
to provide an assessment of the key cost drivers for FoI; and
to examine options for change to the current fees regime for FoI.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the terms of reference of the review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by Frontier Economics Limited prescribed four options for amending the regime, rather than permitting Frontier Economics Limited to consider other options.[HL7944]
Frontier Economics was asked to consider the impact of four options for change which could be introduced by secondary legislation. Frontier Economics was asked to focus its study on these four options but was not confined to these options. The report shows that it explored variations of these broad options.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the likely impact on the volume of requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to government departments for information about government policies, practices and procedures of the proposal to (a) include reading time, consideration time and consultation time in the calculation of the appropriate limit (£600) above which requests could be refused on cost grounds; and (b) to aggregate requests made by any legal person, or persons apparently acting in cohort, to each government department for the purposes of calculating the appropriate limit.[HL7945]
The Frontier Economics report, published by my department last month, shows that the total volume of requests across all government departments would reduce by 4 per cent if reading, consideration and consultation time was included in calculating the appropriate limit and by 8 per cent if non-similar requests were aggregated for purposes of calculating the appropriate limit. This assessment is based on an hourly rate of £25.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Statement by the Lord Bach on 14 November 2000 (HL Deb, col. 186), whether it remains their policy that the maximum fee for requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 should be 10 per cent of the marginal costs of seeking and finding the information; and, if not, what are the reasons for the change in policy.[HL7946]
There is currently no provision to charge a fee under the appropriate limit. The Government have announced that they are not minded to introduce such a fee.