FOI release

Response: DSIT's funding and workforce

Published 27 June 2024

Reference number	FOI2024-10311
Date of request	7 June 2024
Date of response	27 June 2024
Outcome	Information partially withheld

Request for information

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (the department) received the following request for information which we responded to under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA):

Please supply the following information for your Agency only, (do not including any data on other agencies or public bodies that may report to you) for the period of 2023:

Please supply the following information for your Agency only, (do not including any data on other agencies or public bodies that may report to you) for the period of 2023:

(1) Year of Creation/Launch/Establishment?

(2) Your Annual Budget?

(3) Other Revenue received but not from government?

(4) Fiscal Powers: Yes/No

(5) Regulatory Powers: Yes/No

(6) Do you sponsor other Public Bodies: Yes/No, if yes who?

(7) Number of permanent staff?

(8) Number of temporary staff (including part timers)?

(9) Number of contractors employed?

Our response

We can confirm that the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology holds some of the requested information. Please see a response to each question below.

Question 1: ‘Year of Creation/Launch/Establishment?’

DSIT was created by the Machinery of Government change on 7 February 2023 bringing together parts of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Cabinet Office. Therefore, the department is only able to answer your queries from that date onwards.

Question 2: ‘Your Annual Budget?’

Section 21: DSIT initial budgets are readily accessible in the public domain and were published in 2023-24 Main Supply Estimate and subsequently in 2023-24 Supplementary Estimate, alongside Explanatory Memoranda. We are therefore withholding the information under section 21 of the FOIA which states that do not need to provide you with a copy of information when you already have access to it. As section 21 is an absolute exemption, the department is not required to carry out a public interest test.

Section 22: Departmental annual budgets are subject to changes with final position published in the notes within Annual Report and Accounts. Government publishes its annual spending in Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis with 2023 data published on 19th July PESA 2023. with PESA 2024 publication expected in summer 2024. Therefore, we are withholding the information as it is intended for future release under section 22 of the FOIA. As section 22 is a qualified exemption, the department is required to carry out a public interest test. Please view the annex for further information.

Question 3: ‘Other Revenue received but not from government?’

Section 22: This information will be published in the 2023/2024 DSIT Annual Report and Accounts towards the end of 2024, following the audit clearance and being laid before the House of Commons. To note, income data will form part of the 23/24 DSIT Annual Report and Accounts. As this information is intended for future publication, it is being withheld under section 22 of the Act. Through a public interest test we have determined that the public interest is in favour of withholding this information.

Question 4: ‘Fiscal Powers: Yes/No’

No.

Question 5: ‘Regulatory Powers: Yes/No’

No.

Question 6: ‘Do you sponsor other Public Bodies: Yes/No, if yes who?’

Section 22: Yes, this will be covered in the DSIT accounts or on DSIT’s website under about us. The information is intended for future release under section 22 of the Act. As section 22 is a qualified exemption, the department is required to carry out a public interest test Please view the annex for further information.

Question 7: ‘Number of permanent staff?’

Section 21: The Workforce Management Information (WMI) is readily accessible in the public domain and can be found here. We are, therefore, withholding the information under section 21 of the Act which states that do not need to provide you with a copy of information when you already have access to it. As section 21 is an absolute exemption, the department is not required to carry out a public interest test.

Section 22: In addition, the annual accounts covering 2023/24 or the ACSES reports will be available in Autumn 2024. Therefore, we are withholding the information as it is intended for future release under section 22 of the Act. As section 22 is a qualified exemption, the department is required to carry out a public interest test. Please view the annex for further information.

Question 8: ‘Number of temporary staff (including part timers)?’

Please refer to our response to question 7 above.

Question 9: ‘Number of contractors employed?’

Please refer to our response to question 7 above.

Public interest test

We are engaging section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information which is intended for future publication. Section 22 is a qualified exemption. Therefore, we considered the public interest test arguments in favour of releasing and withholding the requested information.

We acknowledge that there is a general public interest in disclosing DSIT’s annual budget, permanent, temporary staff and contractors employed, the public bodies DSIT sponsors, and other revenue received, to promote transparency and government accountability. That is why we aim to publish this information in due course. However, it is also in the public interest to ensure that the publication of official information is a properly planned and managed process.

However, the department must ensure that the information intended for publication meets the standards and requirements set for departmental publications. It would not be in the public interest for DSIT to release this information prior to meeting such standards. Publication before the planned date, in response to individual FOI requests, would undermine the department’s pre-planned publication procedures and its ability to use staff resources in a way that avoids undermining reasonable publication timetables. Having considered the public interest, we consider that the public interest in disclosing this information is outweighed by the public interest considerations in favour of withholding the information.

Our decision is therefore to withhold the information until it is ready for publication.