FOI Statistics for 2017

The request was successful.

Dear Stoke on Trent City Council,

I would like to make an FOI request about the following statistics in the previous annual period. If figures are recorded in calendar year this would be 2017, if financial year 2017-18. If available in both, I would prefer calendar for comparison to central government FOI statistics.

1. What period do you record FOI statistics in? Financial Year/Calendar Year/Other?
2. How many FOI requests have you received? (if this figure includes EIR requests, please state)
3. The number of requests where the information was granted?
4. The number of requests where the information was entirely withheld (no information provided)?
5. The number of requests where the information was partially withheld (some, but not all information requested, provided)?
6. How many requests were completed inside the statutory deadline?
7. How many requests were appealed to internal review?
8. How many decisions were upheld at internal review?
9. How many FOI decisions have been appealed to the ICO?
10. How many decisions were upheld by the ICO?
11. How many vexatious requests were received?

If not all information is available, please treat questions individually.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Parsons

FOI, Stoke on Trent City Council

Dear Mr Parsons

 

Your request for information ref. SOT69607

 

Thank you for your requests for information about FOI request statistics,
management software, staffing levels.

 

Under section 12 of the Act a local authority is able to aggregate
requests in the following circumstances:

 

·         two or more requests for information have been made to the same
public authority

·         they must be either from the same person, or from 'different
persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in
pursuance of a campaign'

·         the requests must relate to the same or similar information

·         they must have been received by the public authority within a
space of 60 consecutive working days

 

The local authority considers that your 2 requests fall into this category
and they will therefore be aggregated into 1 request.

 

Your request was received by the Information Rights Team on 26 June 2018. 
This is being dealt with under the terms of the appropriate Information
Rights legislation.

 

In some circumstances we may charge for information.  If there is a charge
we will let you know, as you will have to pay it before we deal with your
request.

 

Some information does not have to be released under this legislation.  We
will check the information you have asked for and send you as much as
possible.  If another person or organisation is named in the information,
we may have to ask their opinion before we decide what we can give you.

 

You should expect to receive a response to your request on or before 24
July 2018 in line with the legislation's 20 working day statutory
deadline.

 

For your information we may publish the response to your request on our
City Council's website, which can be found at the following address:
[1]www.stoke.gov.uk.

 

If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact
us.

 

You can find details of how we handle your personal information by
visiting [2]www.stoke.gov.uk/dataprotection.

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights

 

Information Rights

Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street

Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH

City of Stoke-on-Trent 

t 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965

e [3][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]

 

 

 

 

Keep up-to-date with events in the city, job vacancies, news from the city
council and details about services which can help you by signing up to our
email updates at [4]www.stoke.gov.uk/stayconnected

Save time, go online; pay your council tax, manage your benefits, book a
housing repair and report a pothole at a time and place that’s convenient
for you at www.stoke.gov.uk 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/
2. file:///C:\Users\Kelly005l\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary%20Internet%20Files\Content.Outlook\434O2OF9\www.stoke.gov.uk\dataprotection
3. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
4. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/stayconnected

FOI, Stoke on Trent City Council

Dear Mr Parsons

 

Your request for information ref. SOT69607 about statistics related to FOI
requests, numbers received, numbers refused, numbers where info is partly
provided, type of software used to manage the cases, staff numbers.

 

We have now considered your request and a copy of the information is
enclosed below.

 

The information supplied may be used for domestic or journalistic
purposes.  Its use for commercial gain including issuing to the public,
social media or computer blogs may be subject to the issue of a licence
under the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

 

Request 1

 

1.    What period do you record FOI statistics in? Financial Year/Calendar
Year/Other?

 

Response: FOI and EIR statistics are reported in Financial year.

 

2.    How many FOI requests have you received? (if this figure includes
EIR requests, please state)

 

Response: 1,283 requests have been received for financial year 2017/18,
this figure includes FOI and EIR requests.

 

3.    The number of requests where the information was granted?

 

Response: The information was provided in full to 813 requests.

4. The number of requests where the information was entirely withheld (no
information provided)?

 

Response: The information was not provided to 270 requests. In 122 cases
this was because the information was not held.

5. The number of requests where the information was partially withheld
(some, but not all information requested, provided)?

 

Response: The information was partially withheld to 160 requests.

6. How many requests were completed inside the statutory deadline?

 

Response: 1,097 requests were completed in time. 25 of the 1,283 requests
received were classed as “pending” as the request was either not valid or
clarification was required from the requester to proceed with the request.

7. How many requests were appealed to internal review?

 

Response: 21 requests were appealed to Internal Review.

8. How many decisions were upheld at internal review?

 

Response: 6 Internal Reviews were upheld in part and 2 were upheld in
full.

9. How many FOI decisions have been appealed to the ICO?

 

Response: None.

10. How many decisions were upheld by the ICO?

 

Response: N/a as no decisions were appealed to the ICO.

11. How many vexatious requests were received?

Response: None.

 

Request 2

 

1.    How many people are employed to deal with FOI?

 

Response: The information Rights Team consists of 4 members of staff which
equates to 2.8 fte. The Team deals primarily with FOI, EIR, SAR’s, ICO
Complaints, Third Party Disclosure Requests, Data Security Breaches and
internal Data Protection advice and guidance.

 

2.    What is the budget for administering FOI?

 

Response: We do not hold this information as we do not record a specific
budget for FOI. The Information Rights Team budget is merged within the
Customer Services Division budget which includes our Customer Access
Centre, One Stop Shops and Local Centres and the Business Support Service.

 

3.    Do you use case management software for FOI? If so, which one?

 

Response: The Information Rights Team currently use CDC Respond
Centerpoint version 3.70 for the recording of all requests for
information.

 

4.    Do you publish a disclosure log?

 

Response: No.

 

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to: The Information Rights Manager, Information Rights
Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street,
ST4 1HH, or email [1][Stoke on Trent City Council request email].

 

If, after contacting us, you are not content with the outcome, you may ask
the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Before doing this, please
see the following link for guidance from the Information Commissioner
relating to how to use your information rights responsibly and
effectively, to enable you to gain the best outcome from the process -
[2]http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public.

 

Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you
have already used our internal review procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, tel: 0303 123
1113 or you can visit their website at [3]www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx.

 

You can find details of how we handle your personal information by
visiting [4]www.stoke.gov.uk/dataprotection.

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Team

 

Information Rights

City of Stoke-on-Trent

Floor 2  Civic Centre  Glebe Street  Stoke-on-Trent  ST4 1HH

T: 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965

E: [5][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]

 

Request 1:

Dear Stoke on Trent City Council,

I would like to make an FOI request about the following statistics in the
previous annual period. If figures are recorded in calendar year this
would be 2017, if financial year 2017-18. If available in both, I would
prefer calendar for comparison to central government FOI statistics.

1. What period do you record FOI statistics in? Financial Year/Calendar
Year/Other?
2. How many FOI requests have you received? (if this figure includes EIR
requests, please state) 3. The number of requests where the information
was granted?
4. The number of requests where the information was entirely withheld (no
information provided)?
5. The number of requests where the information was partially withheld
(some, but not all information requested, provided)?
6. How many requests were completed inside the statutory deadline?
7. How many requests were appealed to internal review?
8. How many decisions were upheld at internal review?
9. How many FOI decisions have been appealed to the ICO?
10. How many decisions were upheld by the ICO?
11. How many vexatious requests were received?

If not all information is available, please treat questions individually.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Parsons

Request 2:

Dear Stoke on Trent City Council,

I would like to make an FOI request for the following pieces of
information:

1. How many people are employed to deal with FOI?
2. What is the budget for administering FOI?
3. Do you use case management software for FOI? If so, which one?
4. Do you publish a disclosure log?

If not all information is available, please treat questions individually.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Parsons

 

 

 

Keep up-to-date with events in the city, job vacancies, news from the city
council and details about services which can help you by signing up to our
email updates at [6]www.stoke.gov.uk/stayconnected

Save time, go online; pay your council tax, manage your benefits, book a
housing repair and report a pothole at a time and place that’s convenient
for you at www.stoke.gov.uk 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
2. http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
4. file:///C:\Users\Kelly005l\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary%20Internet%20Files\Content.Outlook\434O2OF9\www.stoke.gov.uk\dataprotection
5. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
6. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/stayconnected