More UK MOD FOI Fun

A couple days ago, I helpfully pointed out the slight problem the Ministry of Defense were having with their Freedom of Information request forms. Well, it seems they caught on to the problem - though not before I got in a FOI request of my own…

I wonder if you would be so good as to provide, to the extent possible per the Freedom of Information act:

1. The day or date on which the FOI request form (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/ContactUs/FreedomOfInformationInformationRequest.htm) was removed from or otherwise ceased to be present on the MOD website;
2. The reason or reasons for the above;
3. The day or date on which all links on the MOD FOI website which *used* to point to the form URL above were removed, if different than the answer to 1, above;
4. If because of accident or error, the day or date when the MOD became aware of the removal/disappearance of same, and what corrective actions were taken, if any;
and lastly:
5. Any reasons the MOD has neither a custom 404 / “file not found” page on its website, nor any sort of redirect-on-error functionality - either of which are considered not merely “best practice” for website design, but contribute greatly to visitor usability.

Thanks for your time; I look forward to your response.

I expect a response in a couple weeks.

Apparently, this was only the most recent in a series of difficulties with the MOD’s FOI handling - though you really have to search to find mention of it. Buried in the “disclosure log” for the last week in June is a brief, one-line apology for website problems from 25-27 June:

Well, while we’re on the subject of “website technical issues”, have a look at these two screen captures, with their helpful instructions on what to do if you want to receive a response from the MOD via email. The URL appearing at the bottom of each is that for the underlined link on that page:

Brilliant!

(And, yes, I did make a FOI request inquiring as to why this mildly perplexing state of affairs exists - even over on the new, official request forms.)