Information rights / governance (FOIA/EIR/DPA)

The request was successful.

Dear Office for National Statistics,

1. For the current financial year 2021/22 what is the budget for:
1a. Your organisation as a whole
1b. Your information rights functions i.e. FOIA, subject access requests (SAR), EIR
1c. Your press office or equivalent department?

2. For the last 5 calendar years (i.e. from January 2017 to December 2021) please provide an annual breakdown of the volume of the following in relation to your organisation:
2a. FOIA appeals to the ICO
2b. EIR appeals to the ICO
2c. Subject access requests received
2d. Subject access requests closed
2e. Subject access requests closed in time
2f. Complaints relating to subject access requests
2g. First-tier (information rights) Tribunals
2h. Upper Tribunals or higher

3. In relation to your current open casework please provide the number of open:
3a. FOIA requests
3b. FOIA requests overdue
3c. FOIA requests older than 6 months (measured from the received date)
3d. FOIA requests older than 1 year (measured from the received date)
3e. FOIA Internal reviews
3f. FOIA Internal reviews overdue
3g. FOIA Appeals
3h. EIR requests
3i. EIR requests overdue
3j. EIR Internal Reviews
3k. EIR internal reviews overdue
3l. Subject access requests
For the purposes of this question, any snapshot in time between the date you receive this request and the date of your response is acceptable. However, it would assist me if you could indicate the date upon which the snapshot was taken.

4. For your information rights functions relating to FOIA, SAR and EIR, please provide:
4a. An organisational chart for your information rights unit or department(s) responsible for responding to information rights requests
For each role within your information rights unit/department please provide:
4b. A current job description
4c. Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff performing the role
4d. Pay grade/banding including the salary range
4e. Number of direct reports i.e. number of individual staff managed
If not already answered please:
4f. indicate if these roles perform additional core functions or casework.
4g. include the role of your Data Protection Officer in relation to questions 4a-4e
4h. advise where your information rights function sits within the overall structure of your organisation (e.g. Legal, Information Governance, Communications etc.)
4i. Advise whether your organisation operates a centralised or devolved approach to answering FOIA, EIR and SAR requests
4j. Advise what role and banding has primary responsibility in your organisation for managing and drafting responses to casework relating to:
4j i. 1st stage FOIA/EIR requests
4j ii. FOIA/EIR internal reviews
4j iii. FOI and EIR Appeals to the ICO
4j iv. Tribunals (information rights)
4j v. Subject Access requests
4j vi. Complaints relating to subject access requests

5. For the roles with core responsibility for managing and updating your FOI publication scheme, please provide
5a. Job description(s)
5b. Pay grade/banding including the salary range
5c. Number of direct reports i.e. number of individual staff managed
5d. The name(s) of the unit(s)/department(s) the roles come under

6. What case management software and version do you currently use to manage FOIA, EIR and SAR casework?

7. What redaction software do you use to redact information for the purposes of FOIA, EIR and SAR case work?

8. What, if any, external FOIA, EIR or data protection training or certifications has your organisation funded since 2017 for staff with core responsibilities for FOIA, EIR or Data protection compliance?

Yours faithfully,

Mr M. Wilson.

system@share.ons.gov.uk,

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Yours Faithfully

 

The Freedom of Information Team

Office for National Statistics

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ONS request email]
2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...

FOI Team, Office for National Statistics

1 Attachment

Our Reference: FOI/2022/4016

 

Dear Mr Wilson,

 

Thank you for your email requesting data pertaining to ONS Legal Services,
Data Protection and Information Rights departments.

 

I am writing to confirm that the Office for National Statistics has now
completed its search for the information which you requested and the
response can be found here:

You asked:

 

FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4016

 

1.      For the current financial year 2021/22 what is the budget for:

1a.     Your organisation as a whole

1b.     Your information rights functions i.e. FOIA, subject access
requests (SAR), EIR

1c.     Your press office or equivalent department?

2.      For the last 5 calendar years (i.e. from January 2017 to December
2021) please provide an annual breakdown of the volume of the following in
relation to your organisation:

2a.     FOIA appeals to the ICO

2b.     EIR appeals to the ICO

2c.     Subject access requests received

2d.     Subject access requests closed

2e.     Subject access requests closed in time

2f.     Complaints relating to subject access requests

2g.     First-tier (information rights) Tribunals

2h.     Upper Tribunals or higher

3.      In relation to your current open casework please provide the
number of open:

3a.     FOIA requests

3b.     FOIA requests overdue

3c.     FOIA requests older than 6 months (measured from the received
date)

3d.     FOIA requests older than 1 year (measured from the received date)

3e.     FOIA Internal reviews

3f.     FOIA Internal reviews overdue

3g.     FOIA Appeals

3h.     EIR requests

3i.     EIR requests overdue

3j.     EIR Internal Reviews

3k.     EIR internal reviews overdue

3l.     Subject access requests

For the purposes of this question, any snapshot in time between the date
you receive this request and the date of your response is acceptable.
However, it would assist me if you could indicate the date upon which the
snapshot was taken.

4.      For your information rights functions relating to FOIA, SAR and
EIR, please provide:

4a.     An organisational chart for your information rights unit or
department(s) responsible for responding to information rights requests

For each role within your information rights unit/department please
provide:

4b.     A current job description

4c.     Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff performing the role

4d.     Pay grade/banding including the salary range

4e.     Number of direct reports i.e. number of individual staff managed

If not already answered please:

4f.     indicate if these roles perform additional core functions or
casework.

4g.     include the role of your Data Protection Officer in relation to
questions 4a-4e

4h.     advise where your information rights function sits within the
overall structure of your organisation (e.g. Legal, Information
Governance, Communications etc.)

4i.     Advise whether your organisation operates a centralised or
devolved approach to answering FOIA, EIR and SAR requests

4j.     Advise what role and banding has primary responsibility in your
organisation for managing and drafting responses to casework relating to:

4j i.   1st stage FOIA/EIR requests

4j ii.  FOIA/EIR internal reviews

4j iii. FOI and EIR Appeals to the ICO

4j iv.  Tribunals (information rights)

4j v.   Subject Access requests

4j vi.  Complaints relating to subject access requests

5.      For the roles with core responsibility for managing and updating
your FOI publication scheme, please provide

5a.     Job description(s)

5b.     Pay grade/banding including the salary range

5c.     Number of direct reports i.e. number of individual staff managed

5d.     The name(s) of the unit(s)/department(s) the roles come under

6.      What case management software and version do you currently use to
manage FOIA, EIR and SAR casework?

7.      What redaction software do you use to redact information for the
purposes of FOIA, EIR and SAR case work?

8.      What, if any, external FOIA, EIR or data protection training or
certifications has your organisation funded since 2017 for staff with core
responsibilities for FOIA, EIR or Data protection compliance?

 

Our Response:

 

Thank you for your request.

 

1. For the current financial year 2021/22 what is the budget for:

 

1a. Your organisation as a whole

The Statistics Board's net spending is broken down into several different
spending totals, for which Parliament's approval is sought.

The spending totals which Parliament votes are:

• Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit ("Resource DEL"): a net limit
comprising day to day running costs, less income for statistical data
research and property; and includes depreciation (ring fenced budget).
• Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit ("Capital DEL"): investment in
capital equipment/projects.
• Annually Managed Expenditure ("AME"): Spending included in
departmental budgets, but is difficult to predict, such as Legal or
Early departure provisions.

 

The table below details the Statistics Board's budget that has been set
for each spend category in 2021/22:

 

┌───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┐
│Spending Category │Full Year Budget £ │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Income │-      571,100,000 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Resource │    1,070,940,000 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Depreciation │        15,299,000 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Total Resource DEL │     515,139,000 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Capital DEL │        27,081,000 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│AME │          8,400,000 │
└───────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘

1b. This information is not held as Statistics Board budgets are not
disaggregated at this level of activity when set. FOIA, SAR and EIR costs
are primarily absorbed within staff costs associated with our Legal and
Central Policy Secretariat teams.    

 

1c. As per the previous question, this information is not held as
Statistics Board budgets are not disaggregated at this level when set. The
Statistics Board Press Office function forms part of the Communications
and Digital Publishing directorate, which is the level that budget has
been applied to.

 

2. For the last 5 calendar years (i.e., from January 2017 to December
2021) please provide an annual breakdown of the volume of the following in
relation to your organisation:

2a. FOIA appeals to the ICO:

2017: 1

2018: 1

2019: 1

2020: 1

2021: 1

2b. EIR appeals to the ICO

We have had no EIR appeals to the ICO in the last 5 years.

2c, d, e, f, g, h:

2017: Received 10, answered within statutory deadline: 4 (40%)

2018: Received 22, answered within statutory deadline: 17 (77%)

2019: Received 28, answered within statutory deadline: 22 (79%)

2020: Received 23, answered within statutory deadline: 18 (78%)

2021: Received 127, answered within statutory deadline: 112 (88%)

 

For those requests which had responses sent outside of the statutory
timeframe, these requests were typically complex cases requiring greater
than usual consultation surrounding the disclosure of information. In
nearly all of these cases, a response was sent within 1-2 weeks of the
official disclosure date. Respondents were kept fully informed during this
time as to progress.

All requests that are not withdrawn are responded to.

 

We are aware of four individuals having contacted the ICO during this time
period in relation to Subject Access Requests and in each case any issues
were resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.

 

We have had no First-tier information rights Tribunals and no Upper
Tribunals.

 

3. In relation to your current open casework please provide the number of
open:

 

For FOI statistics, you may find the following link to [1]Government FOI
statistics useful.

3a. FOIA requests:

On 11 April 2022, we have 52 open requests.

3b. FOIA requests overdue:

On 11 April 2022, we have 2 overdue requests.

3c. FOIA requests older than 6 months (measured from the received date):

We do not have any requests older than 6 months open.

3d. FOIA requests older than 1 year (measured from the received date):

We do not have any requests older than 1 year open.

3e. FOIA Internal reviews:

On 11 April 2022, we have 7 live FOI internal review cases.

3f. FOIA Internal reviews overdue

Internal reviews do not have a statutory deadline. However, the ICO
advises that these should be completed in 20 working days. On 11 April, we
have 5 FOI internal review cases more than 20 working days old, owing to
the complexity of the cases.

3g. FOIA Appeals.

We have no live FOIA Appeals.

3h. EIR requests:

On 11 April 2022, we have 1 open EIR request.

3i. EIR requests overdue:

On 11 April 2022, we do not have any EIR requests overdue.

3j. EIR Internal Reviews:

On 11 April 2022, we do not have any EIR internal reviews.

3k. EIR internal reviews overdue:

On 11 April 2022, we do not have any EIR internal reviews overdue.

3l. Subject access requests

On 11 April, we have 4 SARs open.

 

4. Our information rights functions sits under the Legal Services team.
Legal Services is made up of 7 team members: one Grade 7; two Senior
Executive Officers (SEO), three Higher Executive Officers (HEO), and two
Executive Officers (EO). This team falls under the Central Policy
Secretariat (CPS).

 

Pay-band information per grade is available in the associated download
named 'Pay 2021 Pay Rates and Ranges – UK Statistics Authority (UKSA)'.

The Legal Team do perform additional core functions and casework.

 

Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) reports to the National Statistician and
Permanent Secretary, and the Second Permanent Secretary, on the exercise
of their DPO functions. The information rights team provide regular
updates to the DPO and seek advice from them as and when needed.

 

Dependent on the available and necessity, our information rights responses
are drafting and managed by our team and involve a number of colleagues at
differing grade levels to input.

Executive officers in the Legal team are responsible for the
administrative processes for FOI, EIR, and SAR. The legal team engage with
the business area subject matter experts to obtain information to answer
requests. Internal reviews, SAR complaints, and FOI and EIR appeals are
managed at Higher Executive Officer level and above.

 

5. The legal team are also responsible for the FOI publication scheme,
details of which can be found in answer to Q4.

 

6. We use Microsoft SharePoint to manage FOIA, EIR and SAR casework.

 

7. We use Adobe Acrobat XI Pro to redact documents.

 

8. Since 2017, the following external FOIA, EIR, and data protection
training have been funded for staff working in information rights:

• Practitioner Certificate in Freedom of Information: Standard Programme
• Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection (Standard Programme)

 

You have the right to have this response to your Freedom of Information
request reviewed internally by an internal review process and, if you
remain unhappy with the decision, by the Information Commissioner. If you
would like to have the decision reviewed please email the Freedom of
Information Team at ‘[ONS request email]’ or write to The FoI Team, Office
for National Statistics, Segensworth Road, Titchfield PO15 5RR, and mark
your correspondence "Internal Review".

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Freedom of
Information Team ('[ONS request email]').

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

The Freedom of Information Team

Office for National Statistics

 

For information on Coronavirus, please visit [2]ONS.gov.uk/coronavirus

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus

FOI Team, Office for National Statistics

Our Reference: FOI/2022/4016

 

Dear Mr Wilson,

 

Thank you for your email requesting data pertaining to ONS Legal Services,
Data Protection and Information Rights departments.

 

I am writing to confirm that the Office for National Statistics has now
completed its search for the information which you requested and the
response can be found here:

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...

 

You have the right to have this response to your Freedom of Information
request reviewed internally by an internal review process and, if you
remain unhappy with the decision, by the Information Commissioner. If you
would like to have the decision reviewed please email the Freedom of
Information Team at ‘[ONS request email]’ or write to The FoI Team, Office
for National Statistics, Segensworth Road, Titchfield PO15 5RR, and mark
your correspondence "Internal Review".

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Freedom of
Information Team ('[ONS request email]').

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

The Freedom of Information Team

Office for National Statistics

 

For information on Coronavirus, please visit [2]ONS.gov.uk/coronavirus

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus