FOI Request handling, Data for Jan 2009 - Jan 2010 inclusive

Dear Mr Muldoon

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 16 February 2010. Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

As your request was received by e-mail it will most likely be responded to via e-mail unless you indicate this is unsatisfactory. If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size. If you require alternative formats, such as in a different language, audio or large print, then please let us know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

There may be a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable.

Please note that information concerning the Council's housing stock may be held by Barnet Homes and FOI requests should be made to them directly in regard to information held by them. Barnet Homes' contact details are available at: http://barnethomes.org/contactus/Pages/C....

Freedom of Information is a statutory responsibility that is discharged corporately by Barnet Council. It is likely that many council officers may have contributed to most responses. The officer named below will have been involved in your response, most likely in a co-ordinating role, and the name is provided for your information and reference. However, please direct any further related correspondence through the [email address] address from where it will be quickly directed to the most appropriate Officer.

Helen Barbour
Executive Assistant to the Director of Corporate Governance
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 2516
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk
P please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?

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I am on leave on Friday 12 March and Monday 15 March 2010.

Emails will not be picked up in my absence. If you are emailing with an
urgent meeting request for Jeff Lustig, ie for a meeting any time from
Friday 12 March to Tuesday 16 March, please call x2008 to leave a message
alerting him to this.

I will deal with emails as soon as practicable after my return.

Thank you.

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Dear Mr Muldon

Thank you for your email and please accept our apologies for the delay
in providing the information that you have requested.

This delay is due to the fact that we are currently experiencing an
extremely high volume of FOI requests.

However, I anticipate that we should be able to complete this work and
respond to your request by the end of next week (Friday 26 March).

Once again, please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to
your request.

Helen Barbour
Executive Assistant to the Director of Corporate Governance
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road
South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 2516
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk
P please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
email?

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Dear Mr Muldoon

Further to my email below, I am writing to update you as to progress in
regard to this FOI request.

The work entailed in providing the information requested by you is
taking somewhat longer than anticipated, however, we expect to be able
to provide you with a substantive response by Thursday 1 April 2010.

Please accept our apologies for the further delay.

Helen Barbour
Executive Assistant to the Director of Corporate Governance
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road
South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 2516
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk
P please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
email?

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Dear Mr Muldoon,

Please find to follow our response to your request for information.  I
apologise on behalf of the council for not responding within 20 working
days, as required under the Act.

QUESTION 1

"Please provide the number of FOI Requests received each month by the
council for calendar year 2009 and January 2010, and the overall total."

    

RESPONSE

Please see attached "Spreadsheet 1", which shows data from our request
management system.  This system is used to log non-routine requests for
information made under the FOIA 2000, the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 and the Data Protection Act 1998.  From the spreadsheet
you will be able to see how many requests were recorded as being received
in each of the time periods you have mentioned.

Please note that we receive a very large volume of written requests which,
although they may satisfy the s8 FOIA criteria, are dealt with as "routine
enquiries" and are not recorded on our request management system.  An
example of this may be if someone emailed us asking for a council
publication.  In such circumstances, where it is easy and there are no
issues with providing the information, we would not record the request on
our request management system; it is only "non-routine" requests which are
recorded.

QUESTION 2

"Please confirm whether it is council policy to acknowledge all FOI
Requests, and how quickly."

RESPONSE

The council's Freedom of Information Staff Guidance (under review) states:
"You must acknowledge receipt of the request in writing, even if you have
already spoken to the applicant. Your acknowledgement should quote the
deadline. In the case of FOI this will be 20 working days from the date of
receipt." 

There are no provisions setting out the time within which acknowledgements
must be sent.

QUESTION 2 CONT.

"If it is, provide the % which met that target in each month and overall."

    

RESPONSE

Not applicable.

QUESTION 2 CONT.

"If not, explain how the council considers this complies with ICO guidance
and the council's duties under the Act, in particular §16 to be helpful."

    

RESPONSE

This is not a request for recorded information held by the council, and so
is not a valid request under the FOIA 2000.  (I shall, however, raise
your point with my colleagues when reviewing the staff guidance and FOI
policies.)

QUESTION 3

"For each month and the whole period, include how many received the
council's response

          (a) within 15wd,

          (b) in 16-20 wd,

          (c) after 20wd,and

          (d) any still awaiting response."

    

RESPONSE

Please see the attached "Spreadsheet 1", which I have referred to
already.  This shows "days taken" to respond to requests.  Please note,
however, that this data cannot be relied upon as a completely accurate
reflection of the length of time between when the request was received and
when a response was sent.  This is because a minority of officers entered
into this field the time they actually devoted to processing a request,
rather than the number of days between receipt and response. 

We do hold more accurate information (in the emails and other
correspondence of the officers who dealt with each request for
information).  However, it would be too costly to produce this
information.  As such please see the below refusal notice.

Please note that we are reviewing new software for managing and recording
requests for information.  Once implemented, this new software will
enable us to report more accurately and more comprehensively on our FOI
performance.

QUESTION 4

"Include also how many were met

     (a) in full,

     (b) partly,

     (c) rejected, with a note of the numbers for each reason for
rejection - not held, too costly, fees notices etc."

    

This information is not recorded in our request management system.  We
would hold it in the emails and other correspondence of the officers who
deal with requests for information.  However, it would be too costly to
produce this information.  As such please see the below refusal notice

QUESTION 5

"Include how many were referred to Internal Review, how long these took as
per (3) above, and the outcome"

    

Please see "Spreadsheet 2" which lists the internal reviews recorded in
our request management system.  Please note that some internal reviews
before June 2009 would not have been recorded on the request management
system.  Although we would hold information on these other reviews (in
the emails and correspondence of the officers who handled the review), it
would be too costly to produce this information.  As such please see the
below refusal notice.

QUESTION 6

"Lastly for each month and total, include the number of requests that had
ICO involvement, distinguishing between numbers where the ICO asked the
council to respond due to delay by the council, or where the ICO made a
ruling after the council process was exhausted.  Itemise each of these
presumably very few cases individually with full dates and outcome."

Please see "Spreadsheet 3" which lists the ICO cases recorded in our
request management system.  Please note that some ICO cases before June
2009 would not have been recorded on the request management system. 
Although we would hold information on these other reviews (in the emails
and correspondence of the officers who handled the review), it would be
too costly to produce this information.  As such please see the below
refusal notice.

REFUSAL NOTICE

From our preliminary assessment, we estimate that full compliance with
parts (3) to (6) of your request would exceed the appropriate costs limit
under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. This is currently
£450. We confirm that the council holds the information that you have
requested. However, on the basis of consultations with FOI officers from
each of the council's departments, we estimate that it would take 65 hours
of officer time to identify, locate, retrieve and extract the information
you have requested. At a cost of £25 per hour the estimated cost would
be £1,625.

YOUR RIGHTS

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request a review by writing to the FOI Officer at: The
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South,
London, N11 1NP (email [email address]).

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45; website:
www.ico.gov.uk).

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely,

N.T.

Governance Officer

Corporate Governance Directorate
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South,
London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 7080

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