- Date released: 27 May 2025
- Request Number: 202504012
- Release of information under: FOI
Information requested
I am requesting information held by the Office for Nuclear Regulation concerning its employment of economists and the use of economic perspectives in its regulatory and strategic functions.
Please share a list of all current ONR roles that are titled as economists or that formally involve economic responsibilities such as analysis, modelling, or cost assessment. For each, I would like to know the job title and civil service grade, the team or unit the role belongs to, and whether the post is currently filled or vacant.
In addition, please include any internal ONR documents or correspondence produced from 1 April 2022 onwards – that is, following the Civil Nuclear (Financing) Act 2022 – which refer to how economic analysis, economic modelling, or value-for-money assessments are used in ONR’s work. This may include strategy papers, internal planning documents, or reflections on the role of economic perspectives in nuclear regulation.
My interest is in understanding how economic expertise is positioned within the organisation and how it contributes to regulatory reasoning.
If any material falls within an exemption, I ask that the remainder be disclosed, with redactions applied only where strictly necessary in accordance with the Act.
Information released
Regarding the first part of your request, we confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information you have requested for current ONR roles titled as economists or formally involving economic responsibilities. We do not have in-house economists however we are able to commission through a technical support contract.
Regarding the second part of your request for ONR documents or correspondence produced from 1 April 2022 referring to economic analysis, modelling or value-for-money assessments used in our work, we confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information you have requested.
However your request is broad and covers a wide-range of information. For example, your description of “reflections on the role of economic perspectives in nuclear regulation” has a broad interpretation and could be applied to a large number of internal documents and correspondence.
Due to the volume and the way the information is held on our systems, gathering it together is likely to involve a cost in excess of the £600 limit set by the government for dealing with Freedom of Information requests. As such, we are unable to comply with your request under s.12 of the FOIA, where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit.
Further information
We try to be as open as possible when answering requests for information, and would welcome you to refine your request to bring it within the appropriate limit.
Under s.16 of the FOIA, we have a duty to provide advice and assistance when refusing a request due to cost limits. As such, we would advise that you limit the scope of your request by:
- Specifying which area of ONR’s work you are seeking this information for. More information about our work can be found on the “what we regulate” page of our website
- Specifying one descriptive category for the information you are seeking, e.g. formal ONR reports including internal.
You may also find this recently released FOIA response published on our website regarding FOI202409044: the economic impact of ONR Safety Regulation helpful in narrowing the scope of your request.
Exemptions applied
s.12
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
N/A