Freedom of Information requests made

The request was successful.

Alexander Plough

Dear Sir or Madam,

1. Total number of FOI requests received by the authority, dating
from 1st Jan 2005 to present day, and broken down annually.

2. Out of these, the number that received a response within the
20-working day limit.

3. The longest time taken to respond to a request.

4. Out of the total, the number of requests that were refused.

5. Out of those requests that were refused, please provide, in
accordance with section 17 of the Act, the specific exemption in
question.

I do not need this for each individual case, but a tally of how
many cases were refused for specific exemptions.

eg.

135 cases refused by virtue of section 30 (2) FOI Act 2000.

59 cases refused by virtue of section 40 (1) FOI Act 2000.etc.

6. The number of requests subject to an internal review.

7. The results of any internal requests. i.e did the authority
uphold the original decision?

8. The number of cases referred to the Information Commissioner

9. If any such cases exist, what the result was.

10. The criteria used when considering the public interest test.

Yours faithfully,

Alexander Plough

Hadzic, Merima, Coventry City Council

12 Attachments

Dear Mr Plough
 
Attached is the response to your request for information under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000
 
Kind Regards
Merima
 
Merima Hadzic
Information Governance Assistant
Contracts & Governance Team,
Customer & Workforce Services,
Coventry City Council
Council House,
Earl Street
Coventry, CV1 5RR
 
Telephone No: 024 7683 2565
Fax No:          024 7683 3395
 
[1]www.coventry.gov.uk 
 
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are
intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you have received this
e-mail in error, you are requested to contact the sender

All e-mails are monitored by Coventry City Council IT Security, using
M@ilMeter and Star Filtering Services.

The views contained in this e-mail are those of the author and not
necessarily those of Coventry City Council.

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Alexander Plough

Dear Merima Hadzic,

I appreciate you responding within the statutory time period. However, I do not appreciate the way you have presented the information I requested.

It is clear to me and must also have been clear to you that, in it's current format, this information is unintelligible.

As the data was collated by your institution and I am not familiar with your particular bureaucratic language, I do not think it unreasonable to ask you to present the information more clearly.

I am mainly concerned with questions 1-4:

"1. Total number of FOI requests received by the authority, dating
from 1st Jan 2005 to present day, and broken down annually.

2. Out of these, the number that received a response within the
20-working day limit.

3. The longest time taken to respond to a request.

4. Out of the total, the number of requests that were refused."

An ideal format would simply be:

2005:
234 requests received
198 responded within time period

2006:
303 requests received
297 responded within time period
etc.

Please let me know what you intend to do.

Yours sincerely,

Alexander Plough

Hadzic, Merima, Coventry City Council

I will be out of the office until Tuesday 4th August 2009 but if your
query is urgent you can call 024 7683 2565 and one of my colleagues will
assist. Thank you!

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are
intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you have received this
e-mail in error, you are requested to contact the sender

All e-mails are monitored by Coventry City Council IT Security, using
M@ilMeter and Star Filtering Services.

The views contained in this e-mail are those of the author and not
necessarily those of Coventry City Council.

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iain left an annotation ()

Why do they always answer with 'I'll be out of the office untill....' ?

Harrison, Iain, Coventry City Council

5 Attachments

  • Attachment

    2005 Register.xls

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  • Attachment

    2006 07 Register.xls

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  • Attachment

    2008 2009 Register.xls

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Dear Mr Plough
 
Thank you for your email, received by the Council on 03rd August 2009.
 

The Council has reviewed its handling of your request for information
regarding Freedom of Information requests made.

 

It is handling this matter as a complaint under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

I have reviewed and summarised events that have occurred as follows.

Your request for Information

 

 

1. Total number of FOI requests received by the authority, dating

    from 1st Jan 2005 to present day, and broken down annually.

2. Out of these, the number that received a response within the

     20-working day limit.

3. The longest time taken to respond to a request.

4. Out of the total, the number of requests that were refused.

5. Out of those requests that were refused, please provide, in

     accordance with section 17 of the Act, the specific exemption in

     question.

6. The number of requests subject to an internal review.

7. The results of any internal requests. i.e did the authority

     uphold the original decision?

8. The number of cases referred to the Information Commissioner

9. If any such cases exist, what the result was.

10. The criteria used when considering the public interest test.

 
The Council responded to your request on the 28th July 2009 as follows:
 
Questions 1-5
 

For the period 2005 to 1^st October 2008, the Council provided you with
copies of its request registers-based upon the relevant Excel spreadsheets
in use at the time.

 

Concerning the period 1^st October 2008 to 30^th June 2008, it was
explained that while such data is recorded on the Councils corporate
tracking system (implemented on 01st October 2008), the Council does not
currently collate the requested information in the manner requested and in
order to do this the Council estimated that the statutory cost limt would
be exceeded.

 

The Council did however offer you the option to refine your request to
bring it within that limit and offered to assist you in doing this.

 
Questions 6 & 7
 
The Council provided you with copies of its internal review registers.
 
These detail both the number of requests subject to internal review since
January 2005 and indicate where the decisions were upheld or overturned,
with reasons.
 

Questions 8 & 9

 

The Council explained that it has not referred any case to the ICO. 

 

It also advised you that where requesters have complained to the ICO
themselves, any decision notices are public documents available from the
ICO website at:

 

[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resource...

 

As such they are available to applicants by other means and are exempt
from disclosure under the request provisions of FOI. 

 

Question 10

 

In response to this question, the Council provided you with the internal
guidance it supplies to it's staff for use when documenting the use of
exemptions or exceptions to information requested.  

 
Your complaint
 
The Council received your complaint by email on 03rd August 2009. In it
you state:
 
" I appreciate you responding within the statutory time period. However, I
do not appreciate the way you have presented the information I requested.

It is clear to me and must also have been clear to you that, in it's
current format, this information is unintelligible.

As the data was collated by your institution and I am not familiar with
your particular bureaucratic language, I do not think it unreasonable to
ask you to present the information more clearly. I am mainly concerned
with questions 1-4:

"1. Total number of FOI requests received by the authority, dating from
1st Jan 2005 to present day, and broken down annually.

2. Out of these, the number that received a response within the
20-working day limit.

3. The longest time taken to respond to a request.

4. Out of the total, the number of requests that were refused."

An ideal format would simply be:

2005: 234 requests received 198 responded within time period

2006: 303 requests received 297 responded within time period etc.

Please let me know what you intend to do."

The Council's response to your complaint

The Council would respond as follows. Where it holds the information
requested, it has (as indicated in its response to you on 28th July)
provided you with that information held, within the 20-working day
statutory limit.
 
Where it does not hold the information requested in the format you
require, information relating to the period 01st October 2008 to 30th June
2009 for example, it has explained that to you and provided what it does
hold, along with an option for you to refine your request and an offer to
assist you with this. 
 
To assist you further with undertaking any analysis you wish on
the information that the Council does actually record, please find
attached the original Excel spreadsheets.
 
These record by year when requests were received and when a response was
sent, along with whether information was released or not and where
relevant, what exemption or exception was applied. 
 
You will note that (as with the pdf documents originally provided)
where specific terms are used there is a key provided at the top of the
relevant column and where exemptions or exceptions have been applied,
these are recorded in the appropriate column. 
 

This concludes the Council's response. However, please be advised that the
Council has further provisions in place to allow you to comment or
complain about outcomes. You can write to:

Council

CV1 2PW

FREEPHONE: 0800 269851

Minicom: 024 7683 4343

Please also be advised that if you are still dissatisfied with the outcome
of your complaint for the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you have the
right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. 
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

 
 
Iain Harrison
Information Governance Officer
Contracts & Governance Team,
Customer & Workforce Services,
Coventry City Council
Council House,
Earl Street
Coventry, CV1 5RR
 
Telephone No: 024 7683 3305
Fax No:          024 7683 3395
 
[2]www.coventry.gov.uk 
 
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are
intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you have received this
e-mail in error, you are requested to contact the sender

All e-mails are monitored by Coventry City Council IT Security, using
M@ilMeter and Star Filtering Services.

The views contained in this e-mail are those of the author and not
necessarily those of Coventry City Council.

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