Fees Notices for FOI Requests
The Freedom of Information (Fees for Required Disclosure) Regulations 2004 state that public authorities may charge for the projected costs of locating, retrieving, collating and providing information for an FOI request. Any estimate of projected costs does not take into account the determination of whether the authority holds the information requested, or whether an exemption may apply.
Fees notices and charges are applied per question, not for an entire request. If it will take more than 10 hours work (across any number of departments) to answer one question, then a fees notice may be applicable.
The first £100 of valid projected costs must be waived. The Data Protection and Freedom of Information Office must be contacted if the estimate of the cost of responsding to a request will exceed the £100.
For in-depth guidance on calculating a fees notice, please see our guidance on Fees for Providing Information.