Managing Information Disclosure Requests

The request was successful.

Dear University of Edinburgh,

I am currently researching what software solutions are used to manage and track FOI, Subject Access and other DPA/GDPR related disclosure requests and would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, details in respect to the contract below.

The details I require are:

• What, if any, software is used for managing and tracking FOI, Subject Access, DPA disclosure requests and complaints?
• If purchased software is used, what was the start date, duration and value of the contract?
• Is there an extension clause in the contract and, if so, the duration of the extension?
• Has a decision been made yet on whether the contract is are being either extended or renewed?
• Who is the senior person/s (outside of procurement) responsible for managing the FOI, Subject Access, DPA disclosure request process?

Thank you for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Ewan Owen

Records Management, University of Edinburgh

We would like to acknowledge that we have received your email. The
University’s working arrangements are affected by the Coronavirus outbreak
but we will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.

 

Information requests (freedom of information requests, environmental
information requests, data subject rights requests)

While we will make all efforts to respond to requests promptly, please be
aware that in some cases unfortunately we will not be able to respond
within statutory timescales. The [1]Scottish Information Commissioner’s
Office and the [2]Information Commissioner’s Office have both issued
statements about requests during the Covid-19 pandemic which you may find
helpful.

Please note that if you have only provided your first (or given) name in
the body of your email your request will not be valid.  To ensure your
request is valid and that the University is obliged to answer it, you must
provide your real name.  If you are making the request on behalf of
someone else you must provide their real name.  The Office of
the [3]Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on this point explains
that if you do not provide your real name or the name of the person on
whose behalf you are making the request, you will lose your right to
appeal to the Commissioner should you be unhappy with the handling of your
request. The guidance also explains what constitutes a real name for the
purposes of making a request valid. Please refer to the guidance for
further details.

 

[4]The University of Edinburgh's request privacy notice, which describes
how we use the information you have supplied about yourself and your
request, is published on the University website.

 

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland,
with registration number SC005336.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...
2. https://ico.org.uk/
3. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/F...
4. https://www.ed.ac.uk/records-management/...

Dear University of Edinburgh,

I would very much welcome an update on the status of my request.

Yours faithfully,

Mr E Owen

Records Management, University of Edinburgh

We would like to acknowledge that we have received your email. The
University’s working arrangements are affected by the Coronavirus outbreak
but we will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.

 

Information requests (freedom of information requests, environmental
information requests, data subject rights requests)

While we will make all efforts to respond to requests promptly, please be
aware that in some cases unfortunately we will not be able to respond
within statutory timescales. The [1]Scottish Information Commissioner’s
Office and the [2]Information Commissioner’s Office have both issued
statements about requests during the Covid-19 pandemic which you may find
helpful.

Please note that if you have only provided your first (or given) name in
the body of your email your request will not be valid.  To ensure your
request is valid and that the University is obliged to answer it, you must
provide your real name.  If you are making the request on behalf of
someone else you must provide their real name.  The Office of
the [3]Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on this point explains
that if you do not provide your real name or the name of the person on
whose behalf you are making the request, you will lose your right to
appeal to the Commissioner should you be unhappy with the handling of your
request. The guidance also explains what constitutes a real name for the
purposes of making a request valid. Please refer to the guidance for
further details.

 

[4]The University of Edinburgh's request privacy notice, which describes
how we use the information you have supplied about yourself and your
request, is published on the University website.

 

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland,
with registration number SC005336.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...
2. https://ico.org.uk/
3. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/F...
4. https://www.ed.ac.uk/records-management/...

Records Management, University of Edinburgh

Dear E Owen

Thank you for your email of 25 November 2020 making a freedom of information request and your further email of 28 January 2021. As explained in our initial acknowledgement message, the University’s working arrangements are affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. We have therefore not been able to progress your request as quickly as we would have hoped, and were unable to respond within 20 working days. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to tell you exactly when you will receive a response to your request but we are working to respond as soon as possible. You will receive a further notification once a caseworker begins processing your enquiry.

I sincerely apologise for the delay in providing this response, and for any frustration this may have caused you. The University’s normal operations have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which means that we have been unable to reply as timeously as we would wish. Many University staff are working from home, without access to normal office facilities, while juggling childcare and other responsibilities. While we are ensuring that all requests receive a response, and are making all efforts to respond to requests promptly, unfortunately in some cases we are not currently able to respond to requests with statutory timeframes.

However, as we did not respond to your request within 20 working days, you do have the right to ask the University to conduct an internal review of the reasons for the delay. The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance about this during the Covid-19 pandemic is available on their website. If you wish to submit a review request you should write to the Records Management Section (using this email address), describing the original request, explaining your grounds for dissatisfaction, and including an address for correspondence. When the review process has been completed, if you are still dissatisfied, you may use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on making an appeal to make an appeal to the Commissioner.

However, please note that the legislation only allows requesters to make one internal review request in relation to a request. Therefore if you ask for an internal review now on the basis of our response being late, you will not be able to seek a further internal review if you are dissatisfied with the content of the response to your request and your next step will be to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner as described above.

The University of Edinburgh's request privacy notice, which describes how we use the information you have supplied about yourself and your request, is published on the University website.

Yours sincerely

Records Management

show quoted sections

recordsmanagement@ed.ac.uk,

1 Attachment

Dear Ewan Owen

Thank you for your email of 25 November requesting information. Please
find the University's response attached.

Yours sincerely

Sara Cranston

Records Management Section
University of Edinburgh
Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh
EH8 9YL

[1]https://www.ed.ac.uk/records-management

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/Records Management Section University of Edinburgh Old College South Bridge Edinburgh EH8 9YL https:/www.ed.ac.uk/records-management