Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests related to police forces in England and Wales; and if she will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work.

The Home Office does not centrally hold this information.

Each police force is a separate public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act and is responsible for processing and responding to requests they receive.

However, we agree with the Hon Member that the burden of responding to FOI requests is not one that we wish to see increasing unnecessarily on police forces at a time we are seeking to maximise the resources devoted to neighbourhood policing.