Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in his Department respond to Freedom of Information requests.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not have a specific number of staff tasked with responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. On receipt FOI requests are allocated to officials in the area of the Department relevant to the subject of the request who provide the response.

The Department’s Information Rights Unit (IRU) processes all FOI requests and provides advice and assistance to policy officials on the application of information rights legislation. The IRU consists of eight members of staff.