FOI Request handling, Data for Jan 2009 - Jan 2010 inclusive
Dear Hammersmith & Fulham Borough Council,
(1) Please provide the number of FOI Requests received each month by the council for calendar year 2009 and January 2010, and the overall total.
(2) Please confirm whether it is council policy to acknowledge all FOI Requests, and how quickly.
If it is, provide the % which met that target in each month and overall.
If not, explain how the council considers this complies with ICO guidance and the council's duties under the Act, in particular §16 to be helpful.
(3) For each month and the whole period, include how many received the council's response
(a) within 15wd,
(b) in 16-20 wd,
(c) after 20wd,
and (d) any still awaiting response.
(4) Include also how many were met
(a) in full,
(b) partly,
(c) rejected, with a note of the numbers for each reason for rejection - not held, too costly, fees notices etc.
(5) Include how many were referred to Internal Review, how long these took as per (3) above, and the outcome
(6) Lastly for each month and total, include the number of requests that had ICO involvement, distinguishing between numbers where the ICO asked the council to respond due to delay by the council, or where the ICO made a ruling after the council process was exhausted.
Itemise each of these presumably very few cases individually with full dates and outcome.
Please provide this electronically, preferably in an XLS spreadsheet.
Yours faithfully,
James Muldoon
Dear Mr Muldoon
REF: 2010/COR0115 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- INFORMATION REQUEST
I acknowledge your request received on 15 February 2010
Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.
If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size, or electronically. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let me know.
For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.
There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.
If you have any queries do not hesitate to contact me.
Further information is available from the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Telephone: 01625 545 700, http://www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Alison Ross-Dow
Senior Information Management Officer
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Information Management Team/Finance & Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU
DL: 020 8753 2455
Director of Finance & Corporate Services: Jane West
Dear Mr Muldoon
REF: 2010/COR0115 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- INFORMATION REQUEST
Your request for information has now been considered and our response is as follows:
(1) Please provide the number of FOI Requests received each month by the council for calendar year 2009 and January 2010, and the
overall total.
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet 2009 and 2010. Please note this covers requests received under the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and hybrid requests. The numbers will not be consecutive as some lines have been removed. These relate to cases which were voided, where was an administrative error or Subject Access Request cases under the Data Protection Act and requests under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
(2) Please confirm whether it is council policy to acknowledge all FOI Requests, and how quickly.
On the day that a request is received we do an assessment as to whether we believe a response can be sent quickly i.e. within a couple of days, or whether more time will be required. For those that can be responded to quickly we tend not to send an acknowledgement. We attempt to acknowledge all others within a couple of days.
If it is, provide the % which met that target in each month and overall.
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet 2009 and 2010
If not, explain how the council considers this complies with ICO guidance and the council's duties under the Act, in particular §16 to be helpful.
S.16 of the Act, the Code of Practice under s.46 and Regulation 9 of EIRs and the Code of Practice, put a duty on public authorities to provide advice and assistance to a requestor. No direct reference is made in either Code to the need to acknowledge requests, nor in the guidance provided by the Information Commissioner's Office. However we recognise it is good practice for any organisation to acknowledge correspondence, to make individuals aware that their letter or email has been received.
FOI s.46 Code of Practice http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u...
EIR Code of Practice http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/policy...
ICO guidance http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/free...
(3) For each month and the whole period, include how many received the council's response
(a) within 15wd,
(b) in 16-20 wd,
(c) after 20wd,
and (d) any still awaiting response.
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet 2009 and 2010
(4) Include also how many were met
(a) in full,
(b) partly,
(c) rejected, with a note of the numbers for each reason for rejection - not held, too costly, fees notices etc.
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet 2009 and 2010
(5) Include how many were referred to Internal Review, how long these took as per (3) above, and the outcome
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet 2009 and 2010
(6) Lastly for each month and total, include the number of requests that had ICO involvement, distinguishing between numbers where the ICO asked the council to respond due to delay by the council, or where the ICO made a ruling after the council process was exhausted.
Itemise each of these presumably very few cases individually with full dates and outcome.
See attached spreadsheet, worksheet ICO cases
If you are dissatisfied in any way you may write to the Information Manager, Business Technology, 2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension, London W6 9JU
Once you have exhausted the complaints procedure you may appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Telephone: 01625 545 700, http://www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Alison Ross-Dow
Senior Information Management Officer
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Information Management Team/Finance & Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU
DL: 020 8753 2455
Director of Finance & Corporate Services: Jane West
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