SAR request statistics (FOI221120)

This Freedom of Information request asks for details about SAR requests

Request for information - Ref no: FOI221120

February 27, 2023

Information request

Thank you for your email of 12 December 2022, requesting information from Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as set out in the extract below:

How many SARs (not other types of data protection requests) have been made to the organisation in the last 12 months?
How many SAR requests have gone over a deadline (either the standard 30 day allocation or the extended 90 day allocation for more complicated responses)?
How many staff are usually contacted to provide data to contribute to the request?
On average how many hours are spent dealing with a SAR?
Do you have any software to assist with SAR production and if so, which?
Who has budget responsibility over the costs & resources required to respond to the SARs? Please provide

Name
Title
Direct Email
Direct Phone Number

Our response

I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested. Where the information is not held or exempt from disclosure this is stated. Taking each request in turn, I confirm the following:

1. How many SARs (not other types of data protection requests) have been made to the organisation in the last 12 months?

Information held. OS has received 5 SARs since 12 December 2021

2. How many SAR requests have gone over a deadline (either the standard 30 day allocation or the extended 90 day allocation for more complicated responses)?

Information held. Of the 5 SAR requests I confirm that none have exceeded their deadlines.

3. How many staff are usually contacted to provide data to contribute to the request?

Information held. On average 2 additional members of staff are contacted to contribute to each request.

4. On average how many hours are spent dealing with a SAR?

Information not held. We do not keep a record of this information; therefore, we are not able to calculate it.

5. Do you have any software to assist with SAR production and if so, which?

Information held. I confirm the only software used to assist with SAR production is Adobe Acrobat.

6. Who has budget responsibility over the costs & resources required to respond to the SARs?

I confirm we hold the information requested; however, we consider the name, title, direct email and phone number of the person responsible for the budget in relation to SARs to be exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) (personal information) of the FOI Act, as the information constitutes personal data.

Exempt information under section 40(2) (personal information)

Section 40(2) provides that personal data is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. In our view, disclosure of this information would breach the data protection principles contained in the General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018

In reaching this decision, we have particularly considered:

the reasonable expectations of the employees: given their positions, Ordnance Survey considered that none of the individuals would have a reasonable expectation that their personal data would be disclosed;
the consequences of disclosure; and
any legitimate public interest in disclosure.

Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the public interest test.

Next steps

Internal review

Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may request an internal review with our Internal Review Officer by contacting them, within two months of receipt of our final response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as follows:

Internal Review Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Adanac Drive
Southampton
SO16 0AS

Please include the reference number above. You may request an internal review where you believe Ordnance Survey has:

Failed to respond to your request within the time limits (normally 20 working days)
Failed to tell you whether or not we hold the information
Failed to provide the information you have requested
Failed to explain the reasons for refusing a request
Failed to correctly apply an exemption or exception

The Internal Review Officer will not have been involved in the original decision. They will conduct an independent internal review and will inform you of the outcome of the review normally within 20 working days, but exceptionally within 40 working days, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance.

The Internal Review Officer will either: uphold the original decision, provide an additional explanation of the exemption/s applied or release further information, if it is considered appropriate to do so.

Appeal to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

If, following the outcome of the internal review you remain unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal, within three months of receiving our response, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You should make complaints to the ICO within six weeks of receiving the outcome of an internal review.

Visit the ICO website to report a concern.

Call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113.

All information requests

See our previous responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Search for FOI responses