Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff in his Department respond to Freedom of Information requests.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) 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 then provide the response.

The Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Information Rights Unit (IRU) processes all FOI requests on behalf of DIT and provides advice and assistance to staff on the application of information rights legislation. The IRU consists of eight members of staff.