Freedom of Information requests

Dear T Thomas

Thank you for your email. I am sorry I have not been able to locate your
initial request for information, however I can confirm that the Council
holds the information you request as outlined below.

1) How many requests for information under the act has the
council received?
Since the inception of the Freedom of Information Act to date, the council
has received the following numbers of Freedom of Information requests as
recorded in its Freedom of Information internal system (FOI+):
2005 -144
2006 - 100
2007 - 148
2008 - 235

Total = 627
2) How many times has the council failed to respond within the statutory
20 day period?

The FOI+ system does not hold this information in a format that would
directly answer your question. This is because in most cases where
delays were expected or experienced, the enquirer would have been notified
of the delay and kept informed about when they could expect to receive a
response. These would mostly relate to complex requests involving a
number of departments across the council or requiring consultation with
partners or contractors. Therefore, under the FOI Act, we would not
consider this a failure on the council's part to respond within the
statutory 20 day period.

However I can confirm that within each of the five directorates within
Harrow Council, there is a nominated FOI lead and a number
of FOI co-ordinators who proactively review the requests recorded in the
system on a regular basis to ensure requests for information are responded
to within the stipulated time frame.

The council has recently launched a new Customer Service Standards where
we have made an undertaking to acknowledge emails or web forms within 24
hours of receipt and reply within 5 working days. We will also
reply letters or faxes within 10 working days of receipt. However, if the
matter is complex and cannot be answered within the stated time frame, we
will inform the enquirer of how long it will take for us to answer.

If you are unhappy with how this response has been dealt with you may
invoke the Council's Complaints procedure which can be found on the
Council's website -
[1]http://www.harrow.gov.uk/site/scripts/do....

Should you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you have the right under
Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act to appeal against the
decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wyycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF or [2]www.ico.gov.uk

Please contact me directly if I can be of further assistance to you.

Kind Regards

Isabella Ogo-Uzodike
Business Manager
Chief Executives, Corporate Finance and Legal & Governance Services
Harrow Council, London
Direct Line: 020 8420 9375 (Internal 5375)
[mobile number]
E-mail: [email address]

Harrow: Cosmopolitan, Confident, Cohesive

>>> T Thomas <[3][FOI #3246 email]> 15/12/2008
19:44 >>>
Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Harrow Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Freedom of Information
requests'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:

[4]http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/fr...

Yours sincerely,

T Thomas

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