[Corrections' response to a post on Facebook regarding the No Pride in Prisons release Corrections charges $10,000 for OIA Request]

No Pride in Prisons have submitted more than 100 Official Information Act requests to us in the last twelve months. All of them have been replied to, and wherever possible we’ve been thorough in our responses.

We receive almost 2500 OIA requests annually (the third highest of all government organisations) and we meet our obligations to reply to requests within the statutory 20 working days 91% of the time. Sometimes the information requested from us is too complex or difficult to extract from our files and we request an extension of time or consider charging a requestor for provision of the information.

In this instance, we have estimated that it would take a staff member three hours to collate and prepare each of the 44 reports requested by No Pride in Prisons. While we are committed to fairness and transparency, and our obligations under the Act, we don’t think that it’s reasonable to expect tax payers to meet the cost on this occasion. As a result we have advised them that the request may be able to be facilitated if reasonable costs are paid to recoup, in part, the expense incurred to Corrections to provide the information. The cost was determined at $38 per half hour (as per the Ombudman’s Guidelines for charging for official information, which you can find here: https://www.justice.govt.nz/.../1982-Official-Information...), to a total cost of $9,956.

We’ve written back to No Pride in Prisons and explained that we are happy to discuss any concerns they have about our decision, and also advised them of their right to contact the Office of the Ombudsman. You can read our full response here: https://fyi.org.nz/.../17042/attach/9/Response%20C82913.pdf

[Further discussion on Facebook]

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