Fees and Charges:

There may be a fee for FOI requests. This fee will cover the costs of:-

• photocopying or printing material, this is charged at 10 pence sterling per sheet
• postage
• producing material in an alternative format at the request of the applicant, such as putting it onto CD-Rom, video, or audio cassette
• allowing the applicant reasonable opportunity to inspect a record containing the information

If the cost of the FOI request comes to less than £5 then the Cabinet Office will not charge a fee.

If the Cabinet Office is making a charge for answering a request it will issue a fees notice to the applicant. The fees notice will be issued in advance of the request being answered, giving an estimate of the costs involved. When a fees notice is issued, the applicant has three months to pay. If payment is not forthcoming, the Cabinet Office does not have to answer the request (section 9(2) of the FOI Act).