The backlog currently totals 273 requests, more than a fifth of the 1,270 requests received by the service this year so far.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said: “At the moment, we have a team of 16 staff who work in the Corporate Information Unit and carrying out a range of duties, including responding to FoI requests.

“Following the necessary approvals, we hope to appoint further staff in due course. Of course, it will take time for these new staff to complete detailed training procedures so that they understand how the FoI and data protection legislation operates.

“The PSNI continues to work closely with the ICO and has updated it on our plans to reduce the backlog. We met the UK Information Commissioner when she visited the PSNI in September and we have also met with the ICO’s head of regional offices on a number of occasions to discuss backlog management measures with him.”