FOI release

RFI 095: Meetings with Ministry of Defence

Updated 23 October 2024

RE: Freedom of Information request - Meetings with Ministry of Defence

Thank you for your freedom of information request, received on 20 August 2024. This is being treated as a new FOI request and it has been allocated reference RFI 095.

I confirm that we hold the information which you have requested but estimate that the cost of compliance would exceed the cost limit of £450, prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulation 2004, and we are therefore refusing your request. This £450 limit is based on the work necessary to comply with your request being carried out at a rate of £25 per hour and equates to 18 hours. Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FOI Act) enables the SSRO to refuse an information request where compliance would exceed that cost limit.

Your request, albeit narrower in scope than your previous request (ref RFI 094), remains wide. As explained in our response to your previous request (RFI 094), as an arms-length body sponsored by the MOD and charged with the regulation of MOD contracts, SSRO representatives meet with MOD representatives (in particular SSAT representatives) routinely and the number of meetings will be numerous. Our assumption remains that most of the requested information would be contained in electronic calendars, and that it would take in relation to a single week of meetings of one SSRO representative approximately 3-5 minutes to access, locate, review, extract and compile the requested information. This equates to approximately 0.5 working days to cover one year of meetings  (4 minutes x 52 weeks). Our estimate is based on it taking 3.5 hours for each person who has met with an SSAT representative during the 12 months ending 31 July 2024 and then, in addition, the need for the SSRO to expend time in preparing the response. This does not take into account information held in other forms or applications (such as emails or Sharepoint) and nor does it take account of information held outside of personal accounts or devices which is held by the organisation centrally, all of which must also be factored into the calculation of time and cost.

Again, without knowing the purpose for which you requested the information it is difficult for us to provide specific advice on the formulation of a less costly information request, and it remains the case that a more limited information request might also be subject to exemptions from disclosure under the FOI Act. You may wish to consider a discussion with us so that we can understand the purpose for which you require the information and we may then be able to advise on how best to frame any future request. If that would be helpful then please do let me know.

Nonetheless, should you again wish to submit an alternative information request, you might consider limiting this in a number of ways, for example:

• seeking only information held by a much smaller group of SSRO representatives;
• seeking only information covering an even shorter time period; and
• seeking only information based on the use of key words.

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days and should be addressed to: [email protected]. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Details of how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office are available at https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/how-you-can-contact-us/.