Statistics on FOI
Dear Highland Council,
in accordance with The Freedom of Information Act 2000 I would like to kindly ask you to provide me with the following information:
1. Number of all freedom of information requests submitted to the Highland Council in years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. If possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to channels through which these were submitted by requesters (for instance, number of FOI requests submitted by WhatDoTheyKnow.com, regular e-mail, phone call, post, in person etc.)
2. Number of freedom of information requests that were granted in full in years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Again, if possible,I would be interested in their breakdown according to channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
3. Number of freedom of information requests that were withheld in full in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Again, if possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
4. Number of freedom of information requests that were granted in part in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Again, if possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
5. What were the most commonly applied exemptions or exceptions to FOIA in these years?
Thank you for your response.
Kind regards,
Maria Zuffova
PhD. Student
University of Strathclyde Glasgow
FOI Request 1404389
Dear Ms Zuffova,
We acknowledge receipt of your request for information under the Freedom
of Information Act / Environmental Information Regulations received on
08/04/2016.
The Highland Council will endeavour to respond within the legislative time
scale of 20 working days from date of receipt unless further clarification
of your request is required.
Further information on response times can be found at:
[1]www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/HowlongwillIwait.asp
Yours Sincerely,
The Highland Council
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References
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1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
Dear Ms Zuffova,
I refer to your request for statistics about our FOI responses. I have
provided the figures below. Unfortunately we are unable to provide
information on the source of the requests. This would require us to
review the email addresses in our contact system individually. We do
record data against generic applicant types and could provide this if this
would be helpful. As you are aware, the requests from whatdotheyknow.com
are all available on their website for you to review.
Under Section 20 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and/or
Regulation 16 of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
(EIRs), you have the right to request that the Highland Council reviews
any aspect of how it has dealt with your request. This requirement for
review should be put in writing to the Freedom of Information Officer,
Chief Executive’s Office, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness IV3 5NX, within 40
working days of receipt of this letter. The request should include details
of the information requested and the aspects of the Highland Council’s
response which you are not satisfied with.
If you are subsequently dissatisfied with the outcome of the Council's
review, you have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information
Commissioner under Section 47 of the Act (Regulation 17 of the EIRS),
within six months of receiving the Council's review response.
Yours sincerely,
Miles Watters
Miles Watters | Freedom of Information & Data Protection Manager |
Chief Executive's Office | The Highland Council | Glenurquhart Road |
Inverness IV3 5NX |
Tel. 01463 702029 | Fax 01463 702830 | www.highland.gov.uk
The figures include requests that come under the definitions or
Environmental Information as well as Freedom of Information.
1. Number of all freedom of information requests submitted to the Highland
Council in years
2011 - 1032
2012 - 1043
2013 - 1222
2014 - 1461
2015 - 1416
If possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to
channels through which these were submitted by requesters (for instance,
number of FOI requests submitted by WhatDoTheyKnow.com, regular e-mail,
phone call, post, in person etc.)
2. Number of freedom of information requests that were granted in full in
years
2011 - 900
2012 - 963
2013 - 1048
2014 - 1198
2015 - 1085
Again, if possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to
channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
3. Number of freedom of information requests that were withheld in full in
2011 – 104 (including 43 where the information wasn’t held)
2012 – 72 (including 43 where the information wasn’t held)
2013 – 96 (including 38 where the information wasn’t held)
2014 – 141 (including 87 where the information wasn’t held)
2015 – 182 (including 133 where the information wasn’t held)
Again, if possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to
channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
4. Number of freedom of information requests that were granted in part in
2011 – 28
2012 – 8
2013 - 78
2014 - 122
2015 - 149
Again, if possible, I would be interested in their breakdown according to
channels through which these were submitted by requesters.
5. What were the most commonly applied exemptions or exceptions to FOIA in
these years?
The most common exemption is section 38 – Data Protection. Most of the
partial refusals are either related to data protection or some of the
information requested not being held. Other exemptions that we have used
are Section 33(1)(b) – commercial interests and Section 25 – Information
otherwise available.
Scottish public authorities are now reporting statistics to the Scottish
Information Commissioner. This includes details of the use of
exemptions. These statistics are available to review on the
Commissioner’s web site:
[1]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Scott...
References
Visible links
1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Scott...
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