Glossary of FOI refusal and records terms

Limits on effort

• Appropriate limit (UK). The cost ceiling above which an authority need not comply with a request. It is £600 for authorities in Part I of Schedule 1 to the FOI Act and £450 for other authorities ².
• Staff time rate (UK). Time spent finding, retrieving and extracting information is costed at £25 per person per hour ³.
• Vexatious request (UK). Section 14(1) says an authority need not comply with a vexatious request ¹.
• Repeated request (UK). An authority that has answered a request need not answer an identical or substantially similar one from the same person until a reasonable interval has passed ¹.
• Practical refusal reason (Australia). A ground such as a request that does not identify the documents, which can be used only after a request consultation process ⁷.

Replies about whether a record exists

• Information not held. A reply that the body holds no recorded information within the request. The ICO decides disputes on the balance of probabilities ⁸.
• Neither confirm nor deny (NCND). A reply that refuses to say whether information is held. The ICO says it must be used consistently and can apply where nothing is held ⁴.
• Glomar response (US). An agency's express refusal to confirm or deny that responsive records exist, named after Phillippi v. CIA, a 1976 case about the Glomar Explorer ⁵.
• Section 24A refusal (Australia). A refusal where all reasonable steps have been taken and the document cannot be found or does not exist ⁷.
• Deemed refusal (Canada). An institution that fails to give access within the time limits is deemed to have refused ¹⁰.

Archive and records management terms

• Historical record (Scotland). A record becomes one 15 years after 1 January of the year after it was created ⁶. Records with information exempt under section 36 take 30 years ⁶.
• Capstone (US). A way of scheduling email by the role of the account holder. Messages of designated senior officials are permanent ⁹.
• Culling (US). Removing nonrecord, personal or transitory messages and attachments from permanent email accounts before transfer to NARA ⁹.

Quick reference table

Why the terms matter

Each term points to a different next step. A not held reply can be tested on the quality of the search, as the ICO's balance of probabilities test shows ⁸. A cost limit refusal turns on the estimate of staff time at the regulated rate ³. A deemed refusal in Canada arises from the passing of the time limits, not from a decision ¹⁰. A Glomar response can be lost where the agency has officially acknowledged the information ⁵.