Ministry of Justice: Freedom of Information

(asked on 14th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department operates a red, amber and green rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests according to their presentational sensitivity.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 17th June 2021

The Ministry of Justice does not operate a red, amber and green rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests in terms of sensitivity. It does, however, use a process by which requests are assessed according to their complexity and sensitivity of the subject matter. On that basis, requests are assigned as either a “trigger” or a “non-trigger” request. If a request is complex and or concerns a sensitive topic it will be a “trigger” request. Responses to such requests will attract extra levels of compliance check by officials and may include contextual lines to explain any information being disclosed.

The Information Commissioner’s Office’s guidance requires public authorities to be requester and motive blind. This means that responses provided are not influenced by whom has submitted a request, or by the motive that may have prompted it. Any information being disclosed under the terms of the Act will be the same, no matter whom the requester.

The Ministry of Justice consistently receives some of the highest volumes of Freedom of Information requests compared to other Government Departments and has sustained performance above the ICO timeliness target of 90% for 43 consecutive months.

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