Legal Services

Disclosure Log - Legal Services

2026

April

Reference: 3994664

Subject:

Please provide the following information relating to the handling of Freedom of Information requests by the authority.

1. Information describing how the authority records, monitors, or tracks the timeliness of responses to Freedom of Information requests. This may include, but is not limited to, internal guidance, policies, performance indicators, dashboards or management reports used to monitor compliance with statutory response times, insofar as such information is already held in recorded form.
2. For each of the last five completed financial years (for example, 2020/21 to 2024/25), the number of Freedom of Information requests where the authority’s substantive response was issued outside the 20 working day time limit set out in section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
   1. If the information requested in question 2 is held in a more granular form, such as a monthly breakdown within each year or by quarters, please provide that breakdown (preferably by month if available or by quarters if breakdown by months is unavailable).
   2. If the authority records late Freedom of Information responses by service area, directorate, or equivalent business unit, please provide the figures requested at question 2 broken down accordingly.

Response date: 30 April 2026

Response: Response to this request - 3994664

 

Reference: 3988866

Subject:

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I would like to request the following information regarding how your organisation manages its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and UK GDPR (Subject Access Requests abbreviated as SAR):

Management of Freedom of Information Requests:

1. For each of the last three financial years, please provide the number of FOI requests received?
2. For each of the last three financial years, please provide the number of FOI requests responded to within the statutory timeframe?
3.  Please confirm whether the requests for FOI are managed by a centralised team (Information Governance/GDPR/Data Protection) or by individual departments/service areas or a Hybrid model (please describe briefly if hybrid)
4. Please provide the number of staff members (FTE/PTE if available) dedicated to handling FOI requests.

Management of Subject Access Requests:

1. For each of the last three financial years, please provide the number of SAR requests received?
2. For each of the last three financial years, please provide the number of SAR requests responded to within the statutory timeframe?
3. Please confirm whether the requests for SAR are managed by a centralised team (Information Governance/GDPR/Data Protection) or by individual departments/service areas or a Hybrid model (please describe briefly if hybrid)
4. Please provide the number of staff members (FTE/PTE if available) dedicated to handling SAR requests.

Please provide the information in electronic format.

Response date: 21 April 2026

Response: Response to this request - 3988866

 

February

Reference: 3898246

Subject:

I am writing to request information regarding Subject Access Requests (SARs) received by your Council.

For ease of response, I have structured this request into clearly defined questions with simple response formats. Where exact figures are unavailable, informed estimates are acceptable.

• Section 1: SAR Volume
• Section 2: Processing Time and Staff Costs
• Section 3: External Costs
• Section 4: Compliance and Timeliness
• Section 5: Complaints and Quality
• Section 6: Current Tools and Methods
• Section 7: SAR Processing Responsibility
• Section 8: Complexity Indicators

Response date: 20 February 2026

Response: Response to this request - 3898246.

 

Reference: 3901422

Subject:

1. Do you have a staff member or staff team who deal with* Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests?
2. Do you have a staff member or staff team who deal with* Subject Access Requests (SARs)?
3. If the answer to either (1) or (2) above is ‘no’ please explain how these issues are dealt with.
4. If the answer to either or both of (1) and (2) above is ‘yes’ please answer the following:
   
   1. How many staff deal with* these requests? Please provide the answer in terms of full-time equivalents (FTE).
   2. How many hours is a full-time week?
   3. Do these staff specialise in either FOI or EIR requests or in SARs? If so, how many staff deal with* each category?
   4. Do the staff who deal with* documents/information for release ‘self-approve’ the documents/information or does their work have to be approved by someone else? If releases are approved by someone else, please explain the process.
   5. What salary range (lowest to highest) do you use to appoint these staff?
   6. Please explain the team structure in relation to these staff, either by provision of a staff chart or by a list (e.g. 1 senior officer, 2 information officers, 1 admin support).
   7. How many FOI and EIR requests did your council receive from 01/01/2025 to 31/12/2025 inclusive?
   8. How many SARs did your council receive from 01/01/2025 to 31/12/2025 inclusive?

*To clarify, when I say "deal with", for FOIs/EIRs I mean get responses from departments, check and redact responses as needed, send responses to customers; for SARs I mean read and redact documents before they are sent to customers.

Response date: 12 February 2026

Response: Response to this request - 3901422.

 

2025

June

Reference: 3761129

Subject:

Please could you confirm the following:

1. Whether your organisation has one or more specific teams, departments, or named individuals responsible for receiving formal legal correspondence from third parties.
2. The relevant postal address(es), email address(es), and telephone number(s) that such correspondence should be directed to. If responsibility differs by type of issue (e.g. contractual, procurement-related, legal) or by region, please provide the details for each as applicable.
3. If this information is already published, please confirm where it can be found.

Response date: 20 June 2025

Response: Response to this request - 3761129.

 

March

Reference: 3639634

Subject:

1. Do you use a legal case management system, and if so which one?
2. When purchasing, what other systems were considered?
3. How many users are on the system?
4. What is the length of the contract with the system provider?
5. Is the system hosted or cloud based?
6. Does it have the following functions?
   1. Time recording
   2. Workflows
   3. Reports
   4. Document bundling
   5. Billing

Response date: 11 March 2025

Response: Response to this request - 3639634.

 

January

Reference: 3616706

Subject:

The total number of Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) received by your authority for each of the last three years (2021, 2022, and 2023).

The number of DSARs completed within the statutory one-month timeframe during each year.

The number of DSARs that required an extension beyond the one-month timeframe, along with the average length of extensions granted.

Any recorded costs (e.g., staff time, software, or other resources) associated with processing DSARs for each of these years.

Response date: 8 January 2025

Response: Response to this request - 3616706.

 

2024

November

Reference: 3581452

Subject:

1. A list of all civil injunctions restricting protest applied and granted to your public body since 2018. For each injunction listed, please provide:

• A copy of the court judgement
• A copy of any maps detailing the geographic where the injunction applies

If all injunctions are already in the public domain, please provide hyperlinks to where I can locate them.

2. Please specify the total amount of legal costs incurred by your public body to date in regard to each injunction listed in response to Q1, including any costs passed onto the protesters named in the injunction. Please break this figure down by the name of each legal firm/lawyer to which the cost are owed
3. For each injunction listed in response to Q1, please specify the total amount contributed towards legal costs by other organisations or individuals. Please break the total figure down by the name of the organisation or individual and the amount of their contribution.
4. For each injunction listed in response to Q1, please specify the total amount of legal costs that have been passed on to protesters named in the judgement. Please break this figure down by the number of protesters ordered to pay costs.
5. For each injunction listed in response to Q1, please specify the total amount of money in legal costs that has been recouped from protesters named in the judgement. Please break this figure down by the total number of protesters from which your organisation has recouped its costs.
6. For each injunction listed in response to Q1, please specify how many individuals have been arrested for a suspected breach of the injunction.
7. For each injunction listed in response to Q1, please specify how many individuals have been found to have breached the injunction and the penalty that was imposed on each individual. Please include both fines issued as well as sentences/suspended sentences handed down.

Response date: 20 November 2024

Response: Response to this request - 3581452.

 

September

Reference: 3557521

Subject:

1. How many employees are part of your legal team?
2. Do you use external sources for legal advice and if so, what is the average monthly spend on external resources?
3. Do you use a legal research platform and if so, how much do you spend per month on this platform?
4. Who is responsible for the legal costs associated with the above questions?

Response date: 23 September 2024

Response: Response to this request - 3557521.

 

March

Reference: 2624755

Subject:

For the last 3 tax year's (23/22, 22/21, 21/20) please provide the total cost of:

• Total number of staff hired with responsibility for freedom of information requests, (full time equivalent).
• Total salary costs for staff with responsibility for freedom of information requests.
• Total for all other costs associated with handling freedom of information requests.
• Total number of freedom of information requests received, and total number responded with the requested.

Response date: 26 March 2024

Response: Response to this request - 2624755.

 

February

Reference: 2576323

Subject:

1. Number of FOI requests received in the last 12 months.
2. Number of FOI requests responded to in the last 12 months.
3. Number of FOI requests responded to on time in the last 12 months.
4. Number of FOI requests that were not answered in full (due to exemptions).
5. List of how often each exemption was applied.
6. Number of FTEs responsible for handling & responding to FOI requests.
7. Annual salary of the FTEs responsible for handling & responding to FOI requests.

Response date: 29 February 2024

Response: Response to this request - 2576323.

 

2023

December

Reference: 2542325

Subject:

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information. Please may you provide me with the below information for each calendar year from 2019 till now:

FOI

1. The total number of FOI's received 
2. The total number of FOI's responded to on time 
3. The total number of FOI's responded to after the due date 
4. The longest delay in responding to an FOI
5. The total number of FOI's overdue awaiting a response 
6. The total number of internal reviews requested 
7. How many officers you have dedicated to the FOI role as either a full job or part of their job description/responsibilities 

SAR 

1. The total number of SAR's received 
2. The total number of SAR's responded to on time 
3. The total number of SAR's responded to after the due date
4. The total number of SAR's complexed  
5. The longest delay in responding to an SAR
6. The total number of SAR's overdue awaiting a response 
7. The total number of internal reviews requested 
8. How many officers you have dedicated to the SAR role as either a full job or part of their job description/responsibilities 

Response date: 8 December 2023

Response: Response to this request - 2542325.

 

October

Reference: 1860929

Subject:

Please provide copies of any internal documents or policies used by the council when deciding how much compensation / redress should be made to members of the public following complaints they have made.

Response date: 13 October 2023

Response: Response to this request - 1860929.

 

July

Reference: 1817501

Subject:

• What is your spend with external law firms

• Do you use eBilling technology to manage your law firms billing (e.g. systems such as Legal Tracker, Brightflag, Apperio, CT Tymetrix, Mitratech etc.)
• Who is your head of legal / general counsel
• Do you have a law firm panel / preferred supplier list / use a framework to buy your external law firm services

Response date: 19 July 2023

Response: Response to this request - 1817501.

 

January

Reference: 995368

Subject: 

1. The number of FOI requests received, of these:
2. The number of FOI requests not fulfilled for any reason, including ‘information already public’, ‘too sensitive’ etc.
3. The number of FOI requests not satisfied completely first time, challenged or additional information requested/required/not disclosed
4. The number of FOI requests escalated for review by a senior officer
5. The number of hours spent by officers complying with point 3 - for example providing further information not properly disclosed first time.

Response date: 20 January 2023

Response: Response to this request - 995368.

 

2022

November

Reference: 971347

Subject: 

Preparation and understanding of GDPR compliance.

Response date: 11 November 2022

Response: Response to this request - 971347

 

Reference: 961208

Subject: 

Can you tell me what software, if any, the council uses to process information requests (including EIR, FOI requests, DSARs, and Member Enquiries). Can you tell me who provides this software? How much does this software cost the council annually?

Response date: 3 November 2022

Response: Response to this request - 961208

 

October

Reference: 956232

Subject: 

1. How many DSAR requests did you receive in 2022
2. How many FOI requests did you receive in 2022
3. Do you have a redaction policy in place?
4. If your answer to Question 3 is a YES, can you share your redaction policy?
5. What tools do you use to undertake redaction?
6. What tools do you use to undertake email de-duplication?
7. What tools do you use to undertake file de-duplication?
8. How much has the organisation spent on redaction tools such as licensing in the last 12 months?
9. What file conversion tools do you use?
10. How many persons are redacting in the information governance team?
11. What company or 3rd party do you use for redaction?
12. How many departments are involved in redacting information?
13. Has your organisation received a data breach fine in the last 5 years?
14. If Question number 8 is a yes, please tell me how much the organisation was fined.
15. Have the information governance team recruited in the last 12 months?
16. If Question number 12 is a yes, please tell me how many person(s) were recruited?
17. Does the information governance team have a budget to spend on tools to help them convert and redact documents?
18. How much has your organisation spent on managing DSARs in the last 12 months? (this money spent on tools, pens, scalpels and staff)

Response date: 17 October 2022

Response: Response to this request - 956232.

 

February

Reference: A1346405

Subject: 

1. The number of total FOI requests the council has received in:
   1. 2020-21
   2. 2019-20
   3. 2018-19
   4. 2017-18
   5. 2016-17
2. The number of total FOI requests the council has approved in:
   1. 2020-21
   2. 2019-20
   3. 2018-19
   4. 2017-18
   5. 2016-17
3. The number of total FOI requests the council has declined
   1. 2020-21
   2. 2019-20
   3. 2018-19
   4. 2017-18
   5. 2016-17
4. The number of total FOI requests the council has declined for the reasons of absolute exemptions in:
   1. 2020-21
   2. 2019-20
   3. 2018-19
   4. 2017-18
   5. 2016-17
5. The number of total FOI requests the council has declined for the reasons of qualified exemptions in:
   1. 2020-21
   2. 2019-20
   3. 2018-19
   4. 2017-18
   5. 2016-17

Response date: 18 February 2022

Response: Response to this request - A1346405.