There appears to be a statutory charge involved per person for LGA submissions but the Police have taken an altogether different approach. Please see the following itemised list of expenses that legitimate researchers may now incur:

“Charges for disclosure of police information
Nottinghamshire Police will soon charge for the disclosure of police information in some circumstances.

The introduction of charges, in February 2012, is part of a national initiative adopted by a number of forces in a bid to save money.

Charges are applied to requests made for purposes other than criminal proceedings, including family and civil proceedings and requests submitted for the benefit of individuals or organisations rather than the community.

The charges were introduced on 20 February 2012. They are in line with charges proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers and can be viewed here”:

http://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/uploads/library/870/Information%20disclosure%20charges%20-%209Feb12.pdf

Indeed it would seem that the full remit of an FOI [prevention] project is becoming quite commonplace.

“Freedom of Information Act 2000
The fee scales for requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are laid down in statutory instrument and case law. The Statutory Instrument 2004 No. 324 The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 states that there is an ‘appropriate limit’ to the costs an authority may incur in locating and retrieving the information required to answer a Freedom of Information request before we pass those costs on to the requester. This appropriate limit is £450, which roughly equates to 2.5 days’ work.

Once a request exceeds the appropriate limit all costs incurred in locating and retrieving the information can become chargeable to the requester. This charge is calculated at £25 per person per hour plus reproduction and postage costs.

Please note that where possible information is provided electronically to limit any reproduction charges being made to a customer. However where reproduction costs are less than £10, no charge will be made.”

Just though that I would flag this up, if it isn’t already part of a wider discussion elsewhere…
Regards
Ben

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