Treatment of Freedom of Information Requests - Subjects - Outcomes - Time to Respond

Dear Marlon Campbell

FOI Acknowledgement

Thank you for your FOI Request, as below. Please quote our ref 124471 in
any further correspondence about this request.

We anticipate responding within the statutory period of 20 working days
following the date of receipt, in this case by 16/02/10.

Thank you for your interest in Lambeth Council.

Richard Gardner

Information Compliance Adviser

London Borough of Lambeth

ICT Services

Finance & Resources

tel: 020 79267741

www.lambeth.gov.uk

3rd Floor, Ivor House, 1 Acre Lane, London, SW2 5BF

Lambeth - Making a difference

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Campbell

Further to your recent FOI Request (our ref 124471) see attached
spreadsheet for an analysis of the 100 most recently completed FOI
requests at Lambeth. I have excluded requests that we still open at the
time they were examined for the purpose of responding to this request.
Some of these may however have subsequently been closed. With regard to
timely logging of requests whilst most requests these days arrive by email
at a central point [1][Lambeth Borough Council request email] , others can be validly received
via any other email address or via website forms completed online, by hard
copy traditional letters, faxes etc and there can be administrative delays
whilst alternative format requests are redirected within the organisation
before they are examined and evaluated. The identities of other requestors
have been withheld under FOI Section 40(2) as "personal data other than
that of the requestor".

Firstly I should point out that your phrasing differs from that used in
the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and/or the Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR). You refer to "rejected", "met" and "not held" as a
basis for classifying requests. However such categories are not mutually
exclusive as you assume because some information might be exempt, other
information disclosable, and some not held - all for the same request.

v The only requests that are "rejected" are a very small minority
that are refused under Section 14 of the Act because they are deemed to be
vexatious or repeated. The Information Commissioner has issued guidance to
public authorities on the criteria for designating requests in this
category:-[2]http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

Where requests are answered under Section 12 of the Act (these are not
rejected but validly refused) because the cost of compliance would exceed
the appropriate limit (18 hours staff time at £25 per hour = £450 for
non-central government public authorities), the onus is then on the
requestor to suggest a narrower focus of interest - otherwise the request
will be suspended and will lapse if not reactivated by redefinition to
achievable scope. The work involved depends not only on what is asked (as
determined by the requestor) but how the question aligns to how the
records are indexed (as determined by the public authority). By reviewing
the request in consultation the requestor under our FOI Section 16 "duty
to advise and assist", we can explore what can feasibly be provided within
the resource limit. For clarity the reworded request should then be agreed
with requestor in writing.

Only the requestor knows what aspect of the question is of most priority
to meet his interest. However if the records held by the council are not
indexed compatibly with the question - especially where the records are
not computerised - this could mean that every potentially relevant record
would need to be examined to determine which of them fit the selection
criteria. This would then soon use up the 18 hours quota. It should be
noted that council information systems are designed to cater for known
business requirements, not in anticipation of any other questions that
might be asked. A compromise might be to provide some information which it
is practical to retrieve but not necessarily about the preferred aspect of
the request.

v The requirements of the Act are "met" when on or more of the
following outcomes occur for all aspects of the request:-

Ø either the information requested is disclosed in full

Ø or the requestor is advised that the information requested is not
held by the public authority (either because it was never in our records
or it has gone beyond it's "sell by date" under the records retention and
disposal policy)

Ø or information is validly withheld under one or more appropriate
FOI exemptions and/or EIR exceptions

       Thus our responsibilities can still be "met" when the outcome
is a valid refusal.

       Where some or all of the information is withheld a refusal
notice must be issued in accordance with Section 17 of the FOI Act
specifying which exemptions are engaged and why. This can then
be        

       challenged under the council's Internal Review procedure and
subsequently through a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Similarly, if information is missing from the response without   

       explanation. Please note that complaints to the council about
quality of service are not Internal Reviews but are instead dealt with
under the Council's Corporate Complaints procedure, the escalation
route     

       for these is to the Local Government Ombudsman (not the
Information Commissioner). In the case of a late response, a reminder from
the requestor is also not an Internal Review as there is at that stage not

       yet a refusal to challenge.

v Information is "not held" for the purposes of the FOI Act when no
relevant recorded information is kept or when it exists but is held on
behalf of another person or organisation (we physically have possession
but it is not our information to give out). It is however "held" where it
is kept on our behalf by a third party such as by a contractor in
connection with our contract with them - but may be difficult to retrieve
which could lead to refusal under Section 12. The scope is different in
the case of the Environmental Information Regulations (for questions about
environmental topics) where information is also held by us for the
purposes of the Regulations if we hold it on behalf of a third party. This
is because whilst FOI is UK law, the EIR regs come from the EU.

London Borough of Lambeth receives many requests per month and the
majority are responded to on time or soon after the deadline. The 100 most
recent requests will all be answered within 2 or at most 3 months of the
date of receipt. Only a minority of these will be the subject of Internal
Review which by definition can only be considered after the original
response has been issued and if so the outcome will be determined during a
further period following the original 20 working days. Other
representations from requestors will instead be handled as enquiries or
internal complaints. Furthermore because the Information Commissioner's
Office (ICO) has a policy of only considering external complaints that
have first gone to Internal Review these will be decided later still - I
understand there is a queue of several months in his office for such cases
from throughout the public sector to be resolved. Consequently, Internal
Reviews relating to the 100 most recently closed requests are unlikely to
have been decided yet, and complaints to the ICO are even more unlikely to
have been decided.

Right to Review

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information
request has been dealt with you can request an internal review by
emailing: [email address] (Please quote the reference number
above) or by writing to:

Corporate Complaints Manager

Lambeth Town Hall

Brixton Hill

Brixton

SW2 1RW

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, who regulates the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Enquiry line: 01625 545745

Thank you for your interest in Lambeth Council.

Richard Gardner

Information Compliance Adviser

London Borough of Lambeth

ICT Services

Finance & Resources

tel: 020 79267741

[3]www.lambeth.gov.uk

3rd Floor, Ivor House, 1 Acre Lane, London, SW2 5BF

Lambeth - Making a difference

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From: Gardner1,Richard
Sent: 21 January 2010 10:45
To: 'Marlon Campbell'
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Treatment of Freedom of
Information Requests - Subjects - Outcomes - Time to Respond

Dear Marlon Campbell

FOI Acknowledgement

Thank you for your FOI Request, as below. Please quote our ref 124471 in
any further correspondence about this request.

We anticipate responding within the statutory period of 20 working days
following the date of receipt, in this case by 16/02/10.

Thank you for your interest in Lambeth Council.

Richard Gardner

Information Compliance Adviser

London Borough of Lambeth

ICT Services

Finance & Resources

tel: 020 79267741

www.lambeth.gov.uk

3rd Floor, Ivor House, 1 Acre Lane, London, SW2 5BF

Lambeth - Making a difference

show quoted sections