Section 1: SAR Volume
Please provide the total number of Subject Access Requests (SARs) received:
Financial Year Number of SARs Received
2022/23 (April 2022 – March 2023)
446.
2023/24 (April 2023 – March 2024)
500.
2024/25 (April 2024 – March 2025)
558.
Section 2: Processing Time and Staff Costs What is the estimated average number of staff hours spent processing each SAR (including searching, collation, review, and redaction)? Average hours per SAR?
Devon County Council does not hold this information.
Which salary band best represents the staff primarily responsible for processing SARs?
(Select one)
Under £30,000 per annum
£30,000 – £40,000 per annum
£40,000 – £50,000 per annum
£50,000 – £65,000 per annum
Over £65,000 per annum
Mixed/varies significantly across departments
£30,000 – £40,000 per annum.
Approximately how many FTE (full-time equivalent) staff are dedicated to SAR processing?
Estimated FTE for SAR processing = 4.4 as of February 2026.
Section 3: External Costs
Please provide the total expenditure on external SAR support (e.g., solicitors, consultants, redaction services) Costs can be approximate however must be indicated as such:
If no external services were used, please state “Nil”.
2022/23 – Nil.
2023/24 – £172,716.81.
2024/25 – £248,031.82.
Section 4: Compliance and Timeliness
Please provide the following compliance data:
Financial Year Completed Within 30 Days Required Extension Total SARs
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
This response acts as a Refusal Notice for this part of your request.
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
Processing this part of the request would require every received case to be reviewed, which would take on average three minutes per case. Over 1500 cases would need to be manually interrogated, therefore well exceeding the cost limit.
In the interests of providing advice and assistance, the Council can provide the following information:
The Council holds monthly compliance information relating to the percentage and number of SARs responded to within the three month processing time allowed following an extension. The information held (SARs responded to within target (%)) is provided here.
How many SARs are currently open or overdue?
163 open.
Current backlog (open/overdue)
117 overdue.
Section 5: Complaints and Quality
Please provide the following quality indicators:
If none, please state “Nil”.
Financial Year ICO Complaints SARs Requiring Re-work
2022/23 1 Nil.
2023/24 3 Nil.
2024/25 0 Nil.
Has the ICO taken any enforcement action regarding SAR handling in the past three years?
No.
Section 6: Current Tools and Methods
What software or tools are currently used to manage and process SARs? (Select all that apply)
Spreadsheet (e.g., Excel, Google Sheets)
General case management system
Specialist SAR/DSAR software. Name of software.
Social Care Case Management System (e.g., Liquid Logic, Mosaic)
Document Management System (e.g., SharePoint, OpenText)
Email/manual process only
Other (please specify):
Specialist SAR/DSAR software. Name of software – iCasework.
Document Management System.
Is any element of your SAR process currently automated? (Select all that apply)
Automated searching across systems
Automated redaction
Automated tracking and deadline alerts
Automated response/correspondence generation
No automation currently in place
Automated tracking and deadline alerts.
Section 7: SAR Processing Responsibility Which role(s) or department(s) are primarily responsible for processing SARs? (Select all that apply)
Information Governance Team
Data Protection Officer / DPO
Legal Services
HR / People Services
Children’s Services
Adult Social Care
Individual service departments (for records within their area)
External provider
Other (please specify):
Information Governance Team.
Name the top 3 departments to which SARs were aimed.
1) Children Social Care.
2) Adult Social Care.
3) Education.
Section 8: Complexity Indicators
On average, how many separate systems are searched per SAR? (Select one)
1-2
3-5
6-10
More than 10
3-5.
On average, how many pages are reviewed per SAR? (Select one)
Under 50
50-200
201-500
501-1,000
Over 1,000
Unknown
Unknown.
How many SARs required consultation with third parties (e.g., NHS, schools, police, external agencies)?
Financial Year Third Party Consultations
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
This response acts as a Refusal Notice for this part of your request.
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
Processing this part of the request would require every received case to be reviewed, which would take on average three minutes per case. Over 1500 cases would need to be manually interrogated, therefore well exceeding the cost limit.
Under the Act, there is a duty to provide advice and assistance as to how a request can be refined to fit within the appropriate limit. Unfortunately, due to the way the information is held, this is not possible for this request.