MoD Access Service Team FOI Compliance

Request

Family members and academic researchers have experienced significant delays when submitting FOI requests for access to Ministry of Defence service personnel records now held at The National Archives.

I appreciate that this is a major and complex transfer project, but I would be grateful if you could provide information to help understand the scale of the issue and how it compares to other areas of your FOI work.

To assist with processing, I’ve limited this request to a small number of focused questions:

1. FOI Delays and Outstanding Requests

a) What are the main reasons for the current delays in responding to FOI requests for MOD service personnel records?

b) How do these delays compare to FOI response times for other types of records held at The National Archives (e.g. Home Office, Foreign Office, or Cabinet records)? Please provide any internal explanation or statistics that show how MOD-related FOIs differ in turnaround times.

c) How many FOI requests relating to MOD service personnel records are currently outstanding?

d) What is the date of:

The oldest active FOI request for MOD service records;

The most recently received active request?

e) How many of the currently active requests have exceeded the 20-working-day statutory timeframe?

2. Staff Involved in Reviewing MOD Records

a) How many staff are currently involved in handling and reviewing FOI requests specifically for MOD service personnel records?

b) Of these:

• How many examine the requested records?
• How many are formally qualified in FOI, records management, or data protection?
  How many hold a higher education qualification in history or records management?

c) What are the civil service grade bands and salary ranges for these staff members (especially those involved in review and decision-making)?

Outcome

Information provided.

Response

1. FOI Delays and Outstanding Requests

a) What are the main reasons for the current delays in responding to FOI requests for MOD service personnel records?

As a public authority which works under FOI legislation, we always endeavour to respond to FOI requests within 20 to 30 working days. However, due to the volume of requests we are receiving for MOD service personnel records, regretfully it is not always possible to meet these deadlines. With over 17,000 active cases, we are working hard to clear our case backlog and to return to timely responses to FOI requests. You can read more about the challenge of providing access to this unique collection, and what we are doing to address the situation, at: FOI action plan - Freedom of Information (nationalarchives.gov.uk)

For context, in February 2021, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) began the transfer of ten million service personnel records to The National Archives. Since then, we have received 68,524 FOI requests for these records, which is by far the largest volume of requests received by any monitored public body. Having transferred over three quarters of this collection already (approx. 7.7 million records), this has resulted in a 308% increase in the volume of requests received by The National Archives.

b) How do these delays compare to FOI response times for other types of records held at The National Archives (e.g. Home Office, Foreign Office, or Cabinet records)? Please provide any internal explanation or statistics that show how MOD-related FOIs differ in turnaround times.

We publish our internal compliance statistics on FOI requests handled by the MOD Access Service Team and our Paid Search and FOI Centre teams, who handle FOI requests for all other records - Please use this link to view the breakdown of these FOI compliance rates: FOI performance - Freedom of Information

c) How many FOI requests relating to MOD service personnel records are currently outstanding?

The total number of unresolved requests as of the 11th of July: 18,023. Please note that the classification of a case as ‘unresolved’ does not necessarily mean that it is beyond the statutory timeframe for a response. For more information please see the answer to part e) below.

d) What is the date of:

The oldest active FOI request for MOD service records:

21/06/2023 (as of the 11th of July)

The most recently received active request?

11/07/2025 (as of the 11th of July)

e) How many of the currently active requests have exceeded the 20-working-day statutory timeframe?

Please note that there is a special provision for FOI requests received by The National Archives, where the request is for information within a transferred and closed archival public record. In these circumstances the public authority is permitted an initial 30 working days to process the request, rather than the standard 20 working days. Please see Regulation 4 of The Freedom of Information (Time for Compliance with Request) Regulations 2004 which contains the special provision for Archives: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3364/regulation/4/made

With this in mind, the total number of active cases that have exceeded the 30-working day deadline is 14,375 (as of the 11th of July 2025).

2. Staff Involved in Reviewing MOD Records

a) How many staff are currently involved in handling and reviewing FOI requests specifically for MOD service personnel records?

33. Information accurate as of the 11th of July.

b) Of these:

How many examine the requested records?

33

How many are formally qualified in FOI, records management, or data protection?

How many hold a higher education qualification in history or records management?

There is no obligation for staff to disclose details of their qualifications when submitting a job application, and we do not monitor qualifications gained by staff since commencement of their role, where training is not sponsored by The National Archives. We do not hold information in a way that would allow us to comprehensively answer either of these questions in the form they are submitted. Therefore this information is not held.

Members of staff within the MoD Access Service Team are not required to possess formal qualification in FOI, records management or data protection. This is because recruitment to the team is based on a skills-based competency criteria and is a common approach across the Civil Service.

Upon entry to these teams, members of staff will undertake a specialised training programme aimed to develop their knowledge of the FOI Act, the exemptions and wider information rights legislation. Some of these training programmes do offer formal qualifications upon their successful completion. Some team members may already have gained these skills and/or qualifications in previous roles.

c) What are the civil service grade bands and salary ranges for these staff members (especially those involved in review and decision-making)?

Request Service Advisor role (Executive officer, EO): £28,337 - £34,489

Case Officer Role (Higher Executive Officer, HEO): £32,721 – £40,680

Access Service Manager (Senior Executive Officer, SEO): £38,322