FOI Requests and their management

Sarah Furling

[[1]mailto:[FOI #300981 email]]

Dear Ms Furling

 

FOI REQUEST – NUMBER AND MANAGEMENT OF FOI REQUESTS RECEIVED BY UNIVERSITY
IN ACADEMIC YEARS 2010/11-2014/15

Emailed: 06 November 2015 12:34

I write to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request
(copy attached below).

 

This will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act
2000, within twenty working days.  Taking into account the bank holiday in
Scotland on 30 November, this means that you can expect to receive a
response from us by 7 December 2015.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
progress of your request ([2][email address]).

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you receive in relation to your
request, and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review, then
please write to Dr Anne Craven, Registrar and Secretary, Bishop
Grosseteste University, Lincoln LN1 3DY ([3][email address]).

 

If you are not content with the outcome of a complaint or internal review,
you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.  Generally,
however, he cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints and review procedures provided by the University itself.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire  SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Guenever Moyes

Archivist & Records Manager

 

 

___________________________________

 

[4]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
cid:image001.jpg@01CDD85F.66A255E0

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_____________________________________________________

 

Telephone   (01522) 583792   |   Email   [5][email address]

Twitter   [6]www.twitter.com/bishopglibrary   |   Facebook 
 [7]www.facebook.com/bishopglibrary   |   Website   [8]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

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Sarah Furling

[[1]mailto:[FOI #300981 email]]

 

Dear Ms Furling

 

FOI REQUEST – NUMBER AND MANAGEMENT OF FOI REQUESTS RECEIVED IN ACADEMIC
YEARS 2010/11-2014/15 (Bishop Grosseteste University)

Emailed: 06 November 2015 12:34

Acknowledged: 06 November 2015 13:20

 

I write in response to your recent enquiry asking how many Freedom of
Information requests the University received in the each of the last five
academic years (2010/11 to 2014/15).

 

The information you requested is as follows:

 

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For each academic year between 2010 and 2015 how many Freedom of
Information requests you received*     (* = The academic years will be
2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15)

 

2010/11                      40

2011/12                      32

2012/13                      40

2013/14                      69

2014/15                      74

 

We normally record FOI requests by calendar year, rather than by academic
year.  For your further information, the numbers of requests received in
the relevant calendar years are as follows:

 

2010                            33

2011                            46

2012                            35

2013                            48

2014                            84

2015 (to date)             61

 

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During 2014/15 academic year, the staffing arrangements for facilitating
FOI requests. How much of someone's role is managing these requests?

 

One member of staff managed FOI Requests during the year (with another
staff member covering for absences).  We do not record the time spent in
managing FOI Requests and this can vary according to the number and
complexity of requests received.  However, we estimate that it represented
at least half of that person’s role in terms of time in 2014/15 (including
time spent in considering exemptions and preparing responses).

 

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What is the direct cost to the University to manage Freedom of Information
requests?

 

The main cost to the University of managing FOI Requests relates to salary
and employment costs.  Whilst I can confirm that we hold the requested
information, we are withholding the exact figure under Section 40 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (which relates to personal data within the
meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998).  The Data Protection Act defines
personal data as data which relate to a living individual who could be
identified from those data and other information in the possession of, or
likely to come into the possession of, the data controller.  Section 40(2)
of the Act relates to information that constitutes the personal data of
third parties.  Under Section 40(2), personal data is exempt information
if one of the conditions set out in Section 40(3) is satisfied.  Section
40(3)(a)(i) provides that information is exempt if its disclosure would
contravene any of the data protection principles set out in the Data
Protection Act, and it must not be released where there is a risk that
specific individuals might be identifiable.  The first data protection
principle states that data are exempt if their disclosure would be
unfair.  Disclosure will breach the fair processing principle if there
could be a legitimate expectation on the part of a third party that the
information would remain confidential.  The exemption from the duty to
disclose personal data, where to do so would breach a data protection
principle, is an absolute exemption and there is no requirement to
consider the public interest.  Although it is sometimes possible to comply
with the requirements of both the Freedom of Information Act and the Data
Protection Act when the information to be provided is anonymous, thereby
making it fair to release, in cases where the information relates to
either a single individual or to small numbers of individuals, it is
considered that anonymization and the absence of personal identifiers may
not provide adequate protection.  In such cases, the information would
still constitute personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection
Act and, as disclosure would breach the fair processing principle
enshrined in the Act, the information must be either redacted or withheld.

 

For non-senior posts, where pay scales cannot be used, it is University
policy only to disclose salary information within bands of £5000.  In this
case, the direct cost to the University of managing FOI requests is in the
region of £15,000-£20,000.

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office has published the following guidance
relating to the Section 40 exemption and the personal information of
public sector employees:

[2]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio....

[3]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

 

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Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
information provided ([4][email address]).

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request, and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review,
then please write to Dr Anne Craven, Registrar and Secretary, Bishop
Grosseteste University, Lincoln LN1 3DY ([5][email address]).

 

If you are not content with the outcome of a complaint or internal review,
you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.  Generally,
however, he cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints and review procedures provided by the University itself.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire  SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Guenever Moyes

Archivist & Records Manager

 

 

___________________________________

 

[6]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
cid:image001.jpg@01CDD85F.66A255E0

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_____________________________________________________

 

Telephone   (01522) 583792   |   Email   [7][email address]

Twitter   [8]www.twitter.com/bishopglibrary   |   Facebook 
 [9]www.facebook.com/bishopglibrary   |   Website   [10]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

 

From: Guenever Moyes
Sent: 06 November 2015 13:20
To: 'Sarah Furling'
Cc: Anne Craven; Emma J. Sansby
Subject: FOI REQUEST - FOI REQUESTS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

 

Sarah Furling

[[11]mailto:[FOI #300981 email]]

 

Dear Ms Furling

 

FOI REQUEST – NUMBER AND MANAGEMENT OF FOI REQUESTS RECEIVED BY UNIVERSITY
IN ACADEMIC YEARS 2010/11-2014/15

Emailed: 06 November 2015 12:34

I write to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request
(copy attached below).

 

This will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act
2000, within twenty working days.  Taking into account the bank holiday in
Scotland on 30 November, this means that you can expect to receive a
response from us by 7 December 2015.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
progress of your request ([12][email address]).

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you receive in relation to your
request, and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review, then
please write to Dr Anne Craven, Registrar and Secretary, Bishop
Grosseteste University, Lincoln LN1 3DY ([13][email address]).

 

If you are not content with the outcome of a complaint or internal review,
you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.  Generally,
however, he cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints and review procedures provided by the University itself.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire  SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Guenever Moyes

Archivist & Records Manager

 

 

___________________________________

 

[14]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
cid:image001.jpg@01CDD85F.66A255E0

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_____________________________________________________

 

Telephone   (01522) 583792   |   Email   [15][email address]

Twitter   [16]www.twitter.com/bishopglibrary   |   Facebook 
 [17]www.facebook.com/bishopglibrary   |   Website   [18]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

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