Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202300357711
Date received: 3 May 2023
Date responded: 1 June 2023
Request
Request for Information 1: How many Subject access requests have you received from April 2022- April 2023
Request for Information 2: How long on average does it take to respond to each request?
Request for Information 3: How many requests are returned to the subject late? (either after 1 calendar month or an extension)
Request for Information 4: Where are the records for the SARs kept? Paper, storage systems? Please be specific
Request for Information 5: How large is your team which deal with subject access requests
Request for Information 6: Have you any plans to increase the size of your team?
Request for Information 7: How many employee SARs have you received (April 2022-23) and how many were responded to late?
Request for Information 8: Who holds the budget for this issue within your organisation?
Request for Information 9: What is the estimated cost to the business per SAR? (employee and end user)
Response to your request
Request for Information 1:
Between 1 April 2022 and 30 April 2023, Social Security Scotland received a total of 89 requests that were categorised as Right of Access requests.
Request for Information 2:
A total of 69 requests received between 1 April 2022 and 30 April 2023 were responded to within the same time period. On average, it took 22 days between the receipt of the request and the final response being sent. The difference in requests received against requests responded to is accounted for due to clients withdrawing their request, clients not responding to requests for proof of ID meaning the request could not be validated, clients not responding to requests for additional information required for us to proceed with the request or requests received near the end of the date period which have been responded to after the date period but within the statutory deadline.
Request for Information 3:
Zero late responses were sent to valid Right of Access requests in the period between 1 April 2022 and 30 April 2023.
Request for Information 4:
All Right of Access requests and responses are held digitally in a secure electronic records management system. Access to this information is restricted to staff with appropriate permissions. Information is held for two years after the response is sent, in line with our retention policy.
Request for Information 5:
Right of Access requests are managed and coordinated, amongst other duties, by a team of four full-time equivalent (FTE) colleagues.
Request for Information 6:
The responsibility to respond to Right of Access requests is an organisational responsibility. Currently, a team of four (FTE), have direct responsibility for managing and co-ordinating Right of Access requests amongst a range of other duties which includes, but is not restricted to, all information rights requests including Freedom of Information requests. Our staffing levels are under constant review to ensure the correct allocation of staffing to Agency priorities.
Request for Information 7:
Between 1 April 2022 and 30 April 2023, five valid Right of Access requests were made by employees of Social Security Scotland. No late responses to employee Right of Access requests were sent out in that time period
Request for Information 8:
Right of Access requests are managed and coordinated within the Chief Digital Office division of Social Security Scotland. The Chief Digital Information Officer is the Deputy Director who holds the budget for this division.
Request for Information 9:
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not hold the information you have requested. We do not log costs for individual requests or charge individuals for requests. Responsibility for managing and coordination Right of Access requests resides with a team amongst other duties.
About FOI
Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing responses to requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.