Library statistics 2021
Dear Greenwich Borough Council,
FAO The Library Service.
Hello, I have two freedom of information (FOI) queries that should be quick. This is being sent to all UK library services so be assured you aren't being singled out! If the operating of the library service has been outsourced to a separate organisation then please fulfil this request by retrieving the response from that body.
1. Does the library service complete annual library statistics to be sent to CIPFA? And specifically, have these been completed for the financial year 2020/2021?
2. If the answer to the above is Yes, please include a copy of your 2020/2021 CIPFA library statistics return in your response. This should be sent in the same format as was sent to CIPFA (e.g. an Excel spreadsheet).
It is important that this should be an exact copy of the data sent to CIPFA. I am not requesting any data that is owned by CIPFA, such as their own aggregated reports. As the data is compiled by the library service it is public library data, and subject to Freedom of Information.
To try and cover any concerns about the second part of this request, I have answered a number of potential worries below. Please have a quick look through these before responding!
- Data Format. The data should be sent as structured data in spreadsheet format. Guidelines from the Information Commissioner's Office specify that it is reasonable to request data in a re-usable and "Machine-readable" formats. For example, if the data were exported to a PDF file then that would not be acceptable, as that is a document rather than structured data.
- FOI exemption: accessible by other means. Occasionally, requesters in the past have been told that this data could be exempt from FOI as it accessible from CIPFA when it is published. However this fails the test of being 'reasonably' accessible due to the high cost for a member of the public. This exemption would certainly be overturned on appeal.
- FOI exemption: commercial interest. Commercial interest exemptions do exist in FOI legislation but this would not apply to a single third party (e.g. CIPFA) who use public data. Their commercial interests are in the value they provide in reporting on that data.
Thank you in advance!
Yours faithfully,
Dave Rowe
Dear Mr Rowe
Freedom of Information request: FOI-55595
Thank you for your request dated 15 September 2021
Your request is due to be answered by 13 October 2021, however, please
note that your request for information may be delayed due to urgent
operational responses to dealing with Covid-19 priorities. We apologise
for any inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding
to your request and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.
If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
Dear Mr Rowe
Freedom of Information request: FOI-55595
Thank you for your request dated 15 September 2021
Our response is as follows:
If you have any queries about this correspondence, please contact me,
quoting the reference number above.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your request, you can ask
for an Internal Review. Internal review requests must be submitted within
two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
request. If you wish to do this, please contact us in writing, setting
out why you are dissatisfied.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Internal Review procedure provided by the Council. You can contact the ICO
by emailing [1][email address], or by post at Customer Contact,
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
From: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Sent: 16 September 2021 08:59
To: 'Dave Rowe' <[FOI #791952 email]>
Cc: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: FOI-55595: Freedom of Information request - Library statistics
2021
Dear Mr Rowe
Freedom of Information request: FOI-55595
Thank you for your request dated 15 September 2021
Your request is due to be answered by 13 October 2021, however, please
note that your request for information may be delayed due to urgent
operational responses to dealing with Covid-19 priorities. We apologise
for any inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding
to your request and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.
If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now