Freedom of Information request (FOI 22/1099)
Published 17 January 2024
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FOI 22/1099
6th December 2022
Dear,
Thank you for the three separate requests which you made to us under the Freedom of Information Act (the Act), dated 06 November 2022. These requests are attached to this email for ease.
During initial review we logged these as separate requests, under the references FOI 22/1099, FOI 22/1100 and FOI 22/1101. We judge that these requests are sufficiently similar that we can combine and treat as one request as we are entitled to do under the Act; we are treating the combined request under the reference number FOI 22/1099.
We can confirm that the MHRA does hold some of the information that you have requested. However, we have also determined that the information is exempt under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act and we cannot process your request any further.
Section 12 of the Act allows public authorities to refuse requests where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for central government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 24 working hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
In attempting to locate the emails and electronic files in scope of your request, we asked our IT department to run searches across the MHRA IT estate. The search has returned 8,016 results. It appears that the searches our IT department conducted include in the results large quantities of metadata, and it has not been possible to separate out emails from the results. Whilst we do not believe that this number is representative of the total number of emails that are specifically in scope of your requests, in order to ensure that pertinent emails were extracted accurately a manual review of each item would be required, which would take in excess of the 24 hours allowed.
If you wish to refine your request then we recommend reducing the timeframe you have asked about, or reducing the number of topics that the emails relate to.
Please note that substantially similar requests made within 60 working days of an original request can be aggregated into one for the purposes of calculating a cost limit, meaning that section 12 could still apply.
If you have a query about the information provided, please reply to this email
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date you receive this response and addressed to: [email protected]
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you were to remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you would have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please bear in mind that the Information Commissioner will not normally review our handling of your request unless you have first contacted us to conduct an internal review. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
MHRA Customer Experience Centre