Subject Access requests and the Information Rights Unit
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.21.021471
I note you seek access to the following information:
1. Would it be possible for you to outline the average amount of time in days it took to complete a Subject Access request in the years, 2019, 2020 and 2021?
2. Secondly would it be possible for you to outline the number of staff in the Information Rights unit for the years, 2019, 2020 and 2021?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
I contacted you recently and advised you that we cannot provide you with the information for Q2 as we would not be able to provide a precise number accounting for vacancies as this would be subject to change and the relevant information could be held in multiple locations. I advised that we can provide you with our current Information Rights Units staffing structure for 2021 and a link to all the information requested for Q1 of your request and you accepted this suggestion.
Please find attached the IRU staff structure for 2021 and in the link below information pursuant to Q1 of your request above.
In relation to the attached staff structure please note the below:
ROA - We currently have 7 vacancies in the ROA team. We had a recruitment campaign recently and individuals are going through the process at present.
DOTT – The vacant Band C post was filled in October 2021
In the link below see section ‘How we comply with data law’ and the report ‘Right of Access Performance Dashboard’. By going to the tab ‘Despatch’ you will see that there is a visualisation for mean time to despatch in days:
The IRU are made up of several departments and they deal with different areas of business:
1) The FOIA team are dedicated to Freedom of Information legislative requirements and therefore not involved in Rights of Access work.
2) The Triage team support a multitude of activities including FOIA, ROA, etc.
3) The ROA team are dedicated to Rights Of Access work.
4) The MPS is a complex organisation with records held in a variety of formats and locations including documentary records held in physical archives. The retrieval and review of material will in most cases therefore involve officers and staff across the MPS.