FoI requests by Daily Mail cost British taxpayer millions (allegedly)

Freedom of Information requests by the Daily Mail have cost British taxpayers up to £56million in the last eight years, figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act revealed this week.

The amount of Government researches employed solely to handle FoI requests has skyrocketed since the Freedom of Information Act was introduced in 2000.

An FoI request revealed this week that the Government now employs 435 researchers, mainly agency staff, to deal with the FoI requests it receives, at a cost of nearly £7million a year.

A Government source told the Mail on Sunday: "It's mostly the Daily Mail. Most papers put in requests once a week or when there's something topical. But the Daily Mail puts in dozens every day. Just this week our workers have been required to find out what cereal Alistair Darling eats in the morning and how many elected officials in the North East have ever been arrested for trespassing."

A receptionist for the Daily Mail said: "I'm sorry no one is available for comment as they are all putting Freedom of Information requests in at the moment."

Freedom of Information requests from Daily Mail costing Britain £7million a year (The Spoof, 20 May 2008)

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