Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the average time taken by her Department to respond to freedom of information requests in the 2022-23 financial year.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recognises our statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 and is committed to government transparency. Every effort is made to provide prompt responses to FOI requests, and we continually seek opportunities for improvement in these areas; doing so in regular collaboration with other departments across Whitehall to share best practice and through an open dialogue with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

In Q1 2023, the department issued 88% of requests within the 20 working day timeline or a permitted extension applied to the case; a 23% increase in comparison to Q1 2022. Official National Statistics on FOI performance for all central government departments and other monitored bodies can be found here. The department does not hold a record of the average response time for FOI requests.