INFORMATION COMPLAINTS POLICY
DOCUMENT REFERENCE
VERSION
DATE OF THIS VERSION
DATE OF ORIGIN
NCC/IG08
1.0
18/05/2018
24/08/2015
APPROVED BY
APPROVAL DATE
1
Data Protection Officer
24/05/2018
DATE REVIEWED
REVIEWED BY
APPROVAL DATE
NEXT REVIEW
DATE
May 2020
1
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Related Policies
POLICY NAME
POLICY REFERENCE NUMBER
VERSION
Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy
NCC.IG02
5.3
Freedom of Information Policy
NCC.IG04
2.2
Environmental Information Policy
NCC.IG05
1.0
Information Charging Policy
NCC.IG06
1.0
Re-use of Information Policy
NCC.IG07
1.0
Amendment History
VERSION
DATE
DESCRIPTION
0.1
24/08/2015
Working Draft
0.2
25/11/2016
Changes made after consultation with the Information Governance Group,
Digital Northumberland Board and Corporate Leadership Team
1.0
18/05/2018
Amendments to policy in line with GDPR
2
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Table of Contents
1.
Scope
2.
Purpose
3.
Introduction
4.
Definition of an Information Complaint
5.
Information Complaints Procedure
6.
How to appeal against the outcome of an Information complaint
7.
Responding to Information Complaints
8.
Persistent and Vexatious Information Complaints
9.
Learning from Information Complaints
10. Confidentiality
11. Implementation
12. Monitoring and review
13. Useful contacts
3
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1.
Scope
1.1
This Policy applies to any customer of the Council, or a person or body acting on behalf of
the customer who has a complaint about an information related matter.
1.2
In this instance a customer of the Council is anyone who:-
●
Contacts the Council to seek information using the Freedom of Information (FOI),
Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) or Data Protection (DP) processes;
●
Contacts the Council to report concern about how personal information is being
handled;
●
Contacts the Council to seek permission to re-use the Council’s information.
2.
Purpose
2.1
This policy sets out how customers can make a complaint about:-
●
request for information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act or Environmental
Information Regulations (EIR);
●
requests for personal information under the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR);
●
the way in which personal information has been handled in relation to the General Data
Protection Regulation;
●
requests to re-use the Council’s information;
And how we wil respond to and learn from complaints received.
2.2
This policy is part of a suite of Information Governance policies.
3.
Introduction
3.1
The Council is committed to delivering excel ent customer service. Listening to our
customers and learning from customer feedback enables the Council to improve its services
and meet the needs of customers more effectively. .
3.2
We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to let us know their views, including
how to make a complaint.
4
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4.
Definition of an Information Complaint
4.1
An information complaint is a
n e
xpression o
f dissatisfaction a
bout t he C
ouncil’s h
andling of a
request f or i nformation, request t o re-use i nformation or the standard a
nd q
uality o
f service in
relation to FOI, EIR, DP or re-use – which require a response. The r
esponse m
ay b
e t o put
things right straightaway, or to investigate the matter further.
4.2
A complaint could include any of the fol owing concerns:
●
we delay or fail to deliver a request for information or a request to re-use information;
●
we fail to resolve a request to handle personal information as we should;
●
a member of staff’s attitude or competence causes concern;
●
we fail to meet our statutory responsibilities in relation to FoI, EIR, DP or re-use;
●
we apply an exemption that a requester is not happy about.
4.3
A complaint is not:
●
a first request for service;
●
a query about the process of a specific issue.
5.
Information Complaints Procedure
5.1
Customers must make a formal information complaint about the Council in writing by
emailing the Data Protection Officer at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx or
by post to Northumberland County Council, County Hal , Morpeth, NE61 2EF. If a
ssistance
is required to put a complaint into writing the complaint can be made in person via our
Customer Service local Offices.
5.2
Information Resolution
5.2.1 Where the information complaint is of a general nature we aim to resolve the issue
informal y.
5.2.2 We encourage customers in this first instance to contact the FoI/EIR or DP
Coordinator of the service they wish to complain about. The Coordinator wil do al
they can to put things right.
5.3
Formal Resolution
5.3.1 Where the information complaint is related to a p
erceived b
reach of the FoI o
r G
DPR
Acts, the EIR or re-use of information legislation t he c
omplaint w
il b
e i nvestigated b
y
5
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the Data Protection Officer through the Council’s formal procedure. The formal
complaint process wil be carried out as a one stage internal review.
5.3.2 Please note that FoI complaints must be made within 2 calendar months from the
date of the response a
nd E
IR c
omplaints m
ust b
e m
ade w
ithin 4
0 w
orking d
ays of t he
al eged failure to apply the regulations.
5.4
Formal Process
5.4.1 A senior officer of the Council who has not been involved in the initial response wil
carry out the internal review along with any other appropriate Council officers. This
wil be overseen by the Data Protection Officer.
5.4.2 An a
cknowledgement w
il be s
ent to t he c
ustomer w
ithin 5
w
orking d
ays and we strive
to provide a response within 20 working days. The timescale for the sending o
f t he
response can be extended to within 40 working days for in depth internal reviews.
The complainant wil be informed about this extension and the reason for it.
5.4.3 Please note that while we try to keep within the deadline above, there is no defined
statutory timescale for dealing with these complaints.
6.
How to appeal against the outcome of an Information complaint
6.1
Where the Data Protection Officer has internal y reviewed a complaint about access to
information o
r t he h
andling of p
ersonal i nformation a
nd t he c
ustomer i s s
til not satisfied, t hey
may appeal to the Information Commissioner.
6.2
Where the Data Protection Officer has internal y reviewed a complaint about the re-use of
information and the customer is stil not satisfied, they may appeal to the Information
Commissioner if the re-use relates to a dataset.
6.3
Where the re-use relates to non-dataset information the R
e-use o
f P
ublic S
ector I nformation
Regulations apply and in these cases the appeal should be m
ade to O
ffice for P
ublic S
ector
Information (OPSI).
6.4
For FOI and EIR complaints the appeal must be made to the Information Commissioner
within 6 months of the outcome of the internal review.
6.5
For complaints to OPSI the appeal should be made in writing, state the nature of the
complaint and should be accompanied by a copy of the Council’s complaint investigation.
6
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7.
Responding to Information Complaints
7.1
On receipt of a formal information complaint we wil :
●
ensure it is recorded on the Council’s system for tracking complaints
●
ensure it is forwarded to the Data Protection Officer who wil coordinate an
investigation
7.2
We w
il a
cknowledge a
nd r
espond to t he c
omplaint o
r s
end a
h
olding l etter t o the customer i n
line with the timescales indicated in section 4.
7.3
Al information complaints are dealt with courteously, openly and fairly.
7.4
Information Complaints - Upheld
7.4.1 Where we have made a mistake or failed to provide the e
xpected s
tandard or quality
of service, we wil acknowledge and apologise for this. We wil also set out the
actions we wil take to put things right and improve our services. This could include:
●
Providing previously withheld information
●
Permitting the re-use of information
●
Permitting the re-use of information with different terms
●
Reviewing Council FOI, EIR, DP or re-use policies or procedures
●
Reviewing how we handle personal data
●
Providing appropriate staff training and guidance
7.5
Information Complaints – Not Upheld
7.5.1 Where we have investigated and we stil uphold the original decision made, we wil :
●
Explain the reasons for our decision clearly
●
Provide any relevant evidence to support the decision
●
Inform customers how to progress their complaint if they remain dissatisfied
8.
Persistent and Vexatious Information Complaints
8.1
We aim to respond to al information complaints positively, and ensure that customers are
satisfied with the way their complaint has been handled.
7
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8.2
In a smal number of cases customers may pursue a complaint in an unreasonable way,
which impacts on Council resources and capacity to respond to the complaint effectively.
8.3
Ways in which a customer may be considered unreasonably persistent or vexatious in
pursuing their information complaint could include:
●
Changing the basis of a complaint during the investigation process
●
Refusing to cooperate with the complaints investigation process
●
Refusing to accept investigation conclusions and decisions
●
Repeatedly making the same or similar complaint
8.4
Continuing to respond to these complaints can take up a lot of time and reduce capacity to
deal with other complaints effectively.
8.5
Where it is considered that an information complaint has become vexatious the Data
Protection Officer, with Legal advice if necessary, wil inform the customer of any decisions
to close a complaint and not enter into any further correspondence on the matter.
9.
Learning from Information Complaints
9.1
Feedback from our customers is used to drive service improvement.
9.2
Data about information complaints is col ated and used to review how we handle and
respond to customer feedback. This includes:
●
How wel we meet our target response times
●
How effective we are in capturing information complaints across the Council
9.3
Information c
omplaints are r
egularly r
eviewed t o identify how w
e c
an improve o
ur information
related processes. This includes:
●
A senior member of the Information Governance Office making operational
improvements in response to specific complaints
●
Regular review of upheld complaints to identify issues that need addressing
●
Identify areas where more training is required.
10.
Confidentiality
10.1
Any personal information provided to the Council wil be managed in line with the
requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation.
8
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10.2
Personal information wil remain anonymous when producing and sharing information about
information complaints with other services and partners.
11.
Implementation
11.1
This Policy is effective immediately.
12.
Monitoring and review
12.1
This P
olicy w
il be m
onitored b
y the Digital N
orthumberland B
oard a
nd w
il be r
eviewed every
two years or where there are changes to Legislation.
13.
Useful contacts
13.1
The Data Protection Officer and Information Governance Office via
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
The Information Commissioner’s Office via www.ico.org.uk
The Office for Public Sector Information via www.nathionalarchives.gov.uk
9
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