FOI requests/responses through 'Whatdotheyknow' website

The request was successful.

Dear Charity Commission for England and Wales,

Within the framework of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, how many FOI requests have been received during 2010/2011 submitted through the 'whatdotheyknow' website?

Of the requests received, how many have been responded to within the time frame specified in the Act?

Of the requests received during that period, how many have been internally reviewed and of those how many (if any) have been assessed by the reviewer(s) as having not been responded to appropriately?

Of the total number of FOI requests received through the 'whatdotheyknow' website, how many have resulted in the Commission being censured or offered guidance by the UK Information Commissioner?

Finally, of the total number of requests submitted though the 'whatdotheyknow' website, on how many occasions has the Commission complained to the website about it displaying out of date or misleading response information?

Personally, I think you do the best job you can with the resources you have - you just need to be more proactive in letting people know that.

Yours faithfully,

Becky Bbear

Web Enquiries, Charity Commission for England and Wales

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[1]http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/...

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1. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/...

CI Information Development, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Becky

Thank you for your email received on 24 April 2011 requesting information
about the number of FOI requests submitted through the 'whatdotheyknow'
website.

I am the officer dealing with your request which will be answered
within 20 working days. Taking in account the public holidays the 20
working day deadline is 25 May 2011 but I will endeavour to provide a
response earlier then that.

Yours sincerely

Margaret Eccleston

Corporate Information Manager

------------------- Original Message

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Dear Margaret,

Thanks for letting me know, a response by May 25 will be just fine.

Yours sincerely,

Becky

CCD FOI, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Becky

Further to your email which we received on 24 April 2011, you requested
information about FOI requests ***received during 2010/2011 submitted
through the 'whatdotheyknow' website***

According to the Commission***s record the information you requested is as
follows:

Number of FOI requests received from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 26
submitted through the ***whatdotheyknow*** website:
Number responded to within the time frame specified in the Act: 22
Number internally reviewed: 2
Number assessed by reviewer as not having been responded to 0
appropriately:
Number where Commission are being censured or offered guidance by the 0
UK Information Commissioner:
Number of occasions Commission has complained to the website about 0
displaying out of date or misleading response information:

If you are unhappy with our response to your FOI request, have a
complaint or wish to request a review of our FOI decision, you should
write to: Charity Commission Direct by email to
[1][Charity Commission request email] or by post to P.O. Box 1227,
LIVERPOOL, L69 3UG. Please state what it is you are dissatisfied with,
which will assist us when we review our response.

If you request a Decision Review you will be notified of our final
decision. Please note that we will accept requests for a Decision Review
up to a maximum of 3 months after the original decision. The 3 months will
be calculated from the date on which you receive written notification of
the original decision. You will be deemed to have received written
notification on the day after the letter enclosing the decision was sent
or the same day if the decision was sent by email.

If after this you remain unhappy with the decision, you may apply directly
to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints procedure.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner***s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Margaret Eccleston

Corporate Information Manager

------------------- Original Message

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Dear CCD FOI,

Thanks Margaret, just what I wanted.

Yours sincerely,

Becky Bbear

Mrs J Townsend left an annotation ()

I a sure the Commission are so delighted to know your opinion of their work you as seem to be such a very important and knowledgeable person. Good for you Becky

Becky said ............."Personally, I think you do the best job you can with the resources
you have - you just need to be more proactive in letting people know that.

Yours faithfully,

Becky Bbear

Becky Bbear left an annotation ()

Mrs J - Thanks, but I seriously doubt they know I exist, other than as one more person asking for information.

In case your interested, the purpose of the request was simply to highlight that like many authorities they do the best job they can with increasingly limited resources. Compared to some authorities, they do better than average.

Sadly, like all authorities, the quality of service still depends heavily on who the request is actually assigned to and how much time/effort they put into the response.

Plus of course, the nature of the request and how it is worded.

If you ever need any suggestions on how to 'get the most' out of an FOIA request, you can always email me for advice through WDTK. I'll help out wherever I can.

Becky

Rob Willis left an annotation ()

Yeah, brought a tear to my eye too. The thought of a government official doing his job to the minimum requirement and not receiving the credit he deserves from the thankless public is enough to make one weep.

Hopefully a few more of them will plunder the stationary cupboards a bit harder to punish us.

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Sarah Goldsmith left an annotation ()

Interesting response.

A cursory glance at the number of requests made in 2010 and to the date of the request in 2011 - is 36 requests made through this site and not the 26 they quote!

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/chari...

Becky Bbear left an annotation ()

Sarag - I had noticed that, just decided to be 'charitable' and put it down to a typo.

The purpose of the request was achieved by receiving confirmation that only a small percentage (which would be even smaller based on 36) of request responses did not require internal review.

Guess their stationary cupboard is safe for another day!

Becky