I've become accustomed to protracted delays when public authorities deal with Freedom of Information requests but even councils do not drag their feet quite as much as the Information Commissioner, the watchdog that rules on Freedom of Information request appeals - which I'm forced to make quite frequently.

I've just had a letter from the Information Commissioner about an appeal we made over a refusal by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to release the details of a report the department had commissioned examining the ballot regulations that supposedly allow parents to stage ballots on whether to scrap grammar schools.

The original request for information in the report was made back in March 2007 - the report itself was commissioned in 2005.

In its letter, the Information Commissioner tells me that it is now ready to investigate my complaint, writing that the focus will be on whether - as we have argued - that the public interest in releasing the report is greater than the public interest in withholding it.

But I am not holding my breath for an early resolution of our appeal as the letter ominously warns:

"Please contact me as soon as possible if there are matters other than these that you believe should be addressed. This will help avoid any unnecessary delay in investigating your complaint. The process of reaching a decision may take some time but I will update you on the progress of the investigation as appropriate but at least every 6-8 weeks."

Heaven forbid that there should be any "unnecessary delays".

As it is, an appeal about a request made in 2007 about a report written in 2005 seems unlikely to be dealt with until 2009.

How's that for efficiency?