Correspondence statistics

FOI request reference: CAS-80335-N4R8C8
Publication date: February 2022

Request

Please share with me the total number of unique correspondence cases logged between 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021 and the percentage of these which were answered on time (only where there is a mandated response time and so this stat will already be tracked and available) for the following areas:

– Data protection requests (including subject access requests and other data subject requests made possible under GDPR).
– Freedom of Information and Environmental Information – Regulations.
– Complaints.
– Ministerial Correspondence (questions from MPs made on behalf of their constituents).
– Parliamentary Questions (questions raised in parliament requiring information from you).
– Any other official correspondence type, such as enquiries, feedback or compliments which are logged and tracked.
– Which software application is being used to track these requests i.e. Excel, Sharepoint, Access or a specific case management tool – in which case, please state which one/s.

Outcome

Some information provided.

Response

Data protection requests (including subject access requests and other data subject requests made possible under GDPR)

Between the 1st April 2020 and the 31st March 2021, The National Archives has received 11 corporate subject access requests, 2 other corporate data subject requests, 18 open archival subject access request and 29 closed archival subject access requests. 93% of this correspondence was responded to on time.

Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations

We are unable to provide you with the information you have requested because it is covered by the exemption at section 21 of the FOI Act, which exempts information if it is already reasonably accessible by other means. For further information about why this exemption has been applied, please see the explanatory annex at the end of this response.

Complaints

Between the 1st April 2020 and the 31st March 2021, The National Archives received 83 complaints. We do not have reporting functionality for the timeliness of complaints received before the 7th November 2020. Between the 7th November 2020 and the 31st March 2021 we received 29 complaints, 90% of which were responded to on time.

Ministerial Correspondence (questions from MPs made on behalf of their constituents)

Between the 1st April 2020 and the 31st March 2021, The National Archives has received 10 pieces of ministerial correspondence. 90% of this correspondence was responded to on time.

Parliamentary Questions (questions raised in parliament requiring information from you)

Between the 1st April 2020 and the 31st March 2021, The National Archives has received 10 parliamentary questions. 100% of these parliamentary questions were responded to on time.

Any other official correspondence type, such as enquiries, feedback or compliments which are logged and tracked.

Between the 1st April 2020 and the 31st March 2021, The National Archives received 1,272 pieces of official correspondence in the form of compliments, criticisms/concerns and suggestions/comments. We do not have reporting functionality for the timeliness of such correspondence received before the 7th November 2020. Between the 7th November 2020 and the 31st March 2021 we received 495 pieces of official correspondence, 97% of which was responded to on time.

Which software application is being used to track these requests i.e. Excel, Sharepoint, Access or a specific case management tool – in which case, please state which one/s

We are unable to provide you with the information you have requested because it is covered by the exemption at section 31(1) of the FOI Act, which exempts information if its disclosure under this Act would, prejudice (a) the prevention or detection of crime. For further information about why this exemption has been applied, please see the explanatory annex at the end of this response.

EXPLANATORY ANNEX

Exemptions applied

Section 21: Information readily available to the applicant by other means
Section 21: Information readily available to the applicant by other means

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) does not oblige a public authority to provide information if it is already reasonably accessible by other means.
In this case, the exemption applies because the information requested in response to your query concerning Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests is already available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

To access this information please use the following links:

Freedom of Information statistics: April to June 2020
Freedom of Information statistics: July to September 2020
Freedom of Information statistics: October to December 2020
Freedom of Information statistics: January to March 2021

The most helpful set of information within these webpages will be the PDF document titled ‘Freedom of Information statistics: tables (PDF)’. You will find the information you require in table 3.

Further guidance on the application of this exemption can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1203/information-reasonably-accessible-to-the-applicant-by-other-means-sec21.pdf

Section 31: Law enforcement
We are unable to provide you with information regarding software applications because this information is exempt from disclosure under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act. Section 31 (1) (a) exempts information if its disclosure is likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Section 31 is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must be released. In the FOI Act there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.

The public interest has now been concluded and the balance of the public interest has been found to fall in favour of withholding information covered by the section 31 (1) (a) exemption. Considerations in favour of the release of the information included the principle that there is a public interest in transparency and accountability in disclosing information about government procedure and use of technology. However, release of this information would make The National Archives more vulnerable to crime. The crime in question here would be a malicious attack on The National Archives’ computer systems. As such release of this information would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime by making The National Archives’ computer system more vulnerable to hacking.

There is an overwhelming public interest in keeping government computer systems secure which would be served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.

Further guidance on section 31 can be found here:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1207/law-enforcement-foi-section-31.pdf