Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Freedom of Information (FOI) requests they have not responded to within 20 working days; and whether they have any plans to improve the efficiency of the FOI request system.

The Cabinet Office publishes information on the handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests across Government on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk.

Covid-19 has put particular pressures on public officials, but as the published figures demonstrate that between July and September 2020, departments received around 8,000 freedom of information requests and responded to almost 90% of them within 20 working days or with a permitted extension. This reflects the Government’s commitment to fulfill its freedom of information obligations, despite the pressures of responding to COVID-19.