I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested. Where the information is exempt from disclosure this is stated.
Taking each request in turn, I confirm the following:
1. How many staff (as measured by full-time equivalents) do you employ to work on communications? Please include all internal and external communications including work on your website, media queries and social media.
The full time equivalent of 22 staff.
2. What was your communication spending for the financial year 2021/22 and what is the budget for the current communications spending in the current financial year?
The communication spending for 2021/22 excluding internal staff costs was £287,320.
We consider information relating to our communications spend budget for the current financial year to be exempt from disclosure under section 43 of the FOIA, therefore, this information will not be disclosed.
Section 43(2) Prejudice to commercial Interests Under section 43(2) of the FOIA, information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of OS.
In this case, we consider that disclosure of the communications budget for the current financial year would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Ordnance Survey. Releasing this information would provide our competitors with insight into our financial information for the current financial year.
This is a qualified exemption, and we are required to consider the public interest.
Public Interest Test
Ordnance Survey recognises the need for transparency. However, this must be balanced against the public interest in allowing the organisation to protect its commercial information and not place itself at a disadvantage in the competitive market in which it operates.
Section 43(2) is a prejudice-based exemption, and there is a public interest inherent in avoiding the harm specified. Ordnance Survey considers that the prejudice would be likely to occur and would involve an adverse effect on Ordnance Survey’s revenues if we were to release this information in a commercially competitive marketplace.
We are not aware of any wider public interest in this information.