The Office of the Ombudsman has issued advice on calculation of the time frame for official information requests over the holiday period.

The Office says agencies which are asked for official information have to respond to the request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after they got it.

However, over the holiday period there is a three-week period which does not count as "working days".

Official Information Act 1982

For OIA requests, that period is 25 December to 15 January inclusive. The Ombudsman says that means any OIA requests submitted on 26 November or later may take a bit longer than expected. Its OIA calculator can be used to calculate the latest date on which a response can be expected.

Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

For LGOIMA requests, the period is 20 December to 10 January inclusive. This affects LGOIMA requests submitted on 22 November or after, or 21 November for agencies observing Chatham Islands or Westland anniversary dates. The Ombudsman has provided information on the effect of relatively recent changes to the LGOIMA "working day" calculations.