Impact of Covid-19 on FOI responsiveness E&W

The request was successful.

Dr Karen Mc Cullagh

Dear Sir/Madam,

1. For the period 16th March – 17th July 2020 (i.e., when ICO had indicated a sympathetic approach to delay), provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:
(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt by your organisation?
(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?
(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt by your organisation?
(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

2. For the period 18th July – 8th October 2020 (i.e., during the ‘preparing for recovery’ phase), provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:
(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt by your organisation?
(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?
(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt by your organisation?
(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

3. During the period 1st March to 30th October 2020, provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:
(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued more than 60 working days after receipt of the request?
(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued more than 60 working days after receipt of a request for an internal review?

4. When FOI request or review responses were issued more than 21 working days after receipt during the period 1st March and 30th October 2020, what were the main reasons for the delay? e.g., closure of premises due to Covid-19, reallocation of resources due to Covid-19, staff shortages due to Covid-19, absence of key staff due to Covid-19, limited access to necessary systems due to Covid-19, other issue related/unrelated to Covid19.

5. In relation to the FOI requests received by your organisation between 1st March and 30th October 2020, what proportion related directly to Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or impact of the pandemic on your organisation? (Provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%)

6. On 17th July 2020 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a self-assessment Freedom of Information toolkit (FOI self-assessment toolkit | ICO) to help public authorities respond to FOI requests as they prepared to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
- Does, or has your organisation ever, use/d the toolkit? If so, please explain whether it has it had any positive outcomes.
- If your organisation has not/does not make use of the toolkit, please explain why not.

7. In response to Covid19, has the volume of information your organisation publishes:
- not changed
- significantly increased
- significantly decreased
- don’t know

8. Has your organisation taken steps to proactively publish information relating to Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or the impact of the pandemic on your organisation? If it includes a dedicated webpage, please provide a link to the webpage.

If you wish to contact me for more information before responding, please see my contact details below.

Thank you for your time and effort in responding to these questions.

Yours faithfully,

Karen

Dr Karen Mc Cullagh, Lecturer in Law
UEA Law School, 205 Earlham Hall, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ

Research webpage: https://www.karenmccullagh.co.uk/covid-1...
About me: https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/per...

FOI Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Thank you for your email.  If you are making a request for information,
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References

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FOI Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

2 Attachments

Our ref: 22/055

           

Please quote reference 22/055 when contacting us about this request for
information.

 

If telephoning, please contact: 0330 403 4734

Email address: [1][LGSCO request email]

 

 

 

Dear Dr McCullagh

 

INFORMATION ACCESS REQUEST – REFERENCE 22/055

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 09 June 2022.

 

Your request has been recorded as:

 

 1. For the period 16th March – 17th July 2020 (i.e., when ICO had
indicated a sympathetic approach to delay), provide precise data if
available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate
e.g., 10%, for these questions:

 

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days
of receipt by your organisation?

 

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20
working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

 

(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60
working days of receipt by your organisation?

 

(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60
working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

 

 

2. For the period 18th July – 8th October 2020 (i.e., during the
‘preparing for recovery’ phase), provide precise data if available e.g.,
15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for
these questions:

 

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days
of receipt by your organisation?

 

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20
working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

 

(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60
working days of receipt by your organisation?

 

(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60
working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

 

 

3. During the period 1st March to 30th October 2020, provide precise data
if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate
e.g., 10%, for these questions:

 

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued more than 60 working
days after receipt of the request?

 

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued more than 60
working days after receipt of a request for an internal review?

 

 

4. When FOI request or review responses were issued more than 21 working
days after receipt during the period 1st March and 30th October 2020, what
were the main reasons for the delay? e.g., closure of premises due to
Covid-19, reallocation of resources due to Covid-19, staff shortages due
to Covid-19, absence of key staff due to Covid-19, limited access to
necessary systems due to Covid-19, other issue related/unrelated to
Covid19.

 

 

5. In relation to the FOI requests received by your organisation between
1st March and 30th October 2020, what proportion related directly to
Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or impact of the pandemic
on your organisation? (Provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of
30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%)

 

 

6. On 17th July 2020 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched
a self-assessment Freedom of Information toolkit (FOI self-assessment
toolkit | ICO) to help public authorities respond to FOI requests as they
prepared to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

 

- Does, or has your organisation ever, use/d the toolkit? If so, please
explain whether it has it had any positive outcomes.

 

- If your organisation has not/does not make use of the toolkit, please
explain why not.

 

 

7. In response to Covid19, has the volume of information your organisation
publishes:

 

- not changed

 

- significantly increased

 

- significantly decreased

 

- don’t know

 

 

8. Has your organisation taken steps to proactively publish information
relating to Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or the impact
of the pandemic on your organisation? If it includes a dedicated webpage,
please provide a link to the webpage.

 

We aim to respond to all requests within 20 working days. You can
therefore expect our response to be issued on or before 07 July 2022.

 

As your request was received electronically, our response will be issued
electronically.

 

To reduce the risk of your email provider considering our emails as spam,
we recommend you add our address (lgo.org.uk) to your safe sender list.
Information on how to do this is on our website:

 

[2]Contact us - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

 

Please see our Privacy Notice for those making information access requests
at:

 

[3]https://www.lgo.org.uk/privacy

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mandy Cashmore

Information and Records Officer

Tel: 0330 403 4734

 

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Listen - Understand - Communicate - Learn

 

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References

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3. https://www.lgo.org.uk/privacy
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FOI Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Dr McCullagh

 

Information Access Request – Reference 22/055

 

Please see attached our response to your access to information request
which we received on 09 June 2022.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mandy Cashmore

Information and Records Officer

Tel: 0330 403 4734

 

[1]SCO logo final jpeg for email signatures

 

Listen - Understand - Communicate - Learn

 

[2]www.lgo.org.uk

 

NOTICE - This message contains information intended only for the use of
the addressee named above. If you have received this message in error
please advise us at once and do not make any use of the information.
Please note that our incoming mail size limit is 20Mb per email.

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Dr Karen Mc Cullagh

Dear Mandy,

Re: Your ref: 22/055

Thank you for responding to my request for information, and in particular, for explaining how you regularly monitor your response times. I really appreciate it.

Yours sincerely,

Karen
Dr Karen Mc Cullagh

FOI Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Thank you for your email.  If you are making a request for information,
you should get an acknowledgement from us within the next 2-3 days with a
reference number and a date by which we will respond to your request.

 

Please note this address is only for use in relation to requests for
information made under the Freedom of Information Act and subject access
requests made under the Data Protection Act.  The Information and Records
Officer cannot help you with a new or existing complaint.

 

If your email is about a new complaint please follow this link to a
[1]complaint form or call 0300 061 0614 to speak to one of our Advisers.

 

If your email is about an existing complaint please email your
investigator or call 0300 061 0614.

 

Any emails received which relate to either a new or existing complaint
will not be forwarded on and will be deleted.

 

 

[2]another test with borders

 

NOTICE - This message contains information intended only for the use of
the addressee named above. If you have received this message in error
please advise us at once and do not make any use of the information.
Please note that our incoming mail size limit is 20Mb per email.

References

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