Time to resolve FOIA/EIR Complaints

The request was successful.

Mark Christopher

Dear Information Commissioner's Office,

In financial years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, what percentage of complaints to the ICO under s.50 FOIA were finally resolved within 6 months of receipt by the ICO.

If the percentage is less than the “90%” target referred to in the FOS Service Standards, please provide copies of documents indicating what, if any, specific steps the ICO has taken, and/or is taking, to achieve that service standard, in the light of the actual figures for these years.

Please provide any response in an electronic format, through the Whatdotheyknow website.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Christopher

icoaccessinformation, Information Commissioner's Office

Thank you for contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office. We confirm
that we have received your correspondence.

If you have made a request for information held by the ICO we will contact
you as soon as possible if we need any further information to enable us to
answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will
respond to you within our published, and statutory, service levels. For
more information please visit:

[1]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...

If you have raised a new information rights concern - we aim to send you
an initial response and case reference number within 30 days.

If you are concerned about the way an organisation is handling your
personal information, we will not usually look into it unless you have
raised it with the organisation first. For more information please see our
webpage ‘raising a concern with an organisation’ (go to our homepage and
follow the link ‘for the public’). You can also call the number below.

If you have requested advice - we aim to respond within 14 days. 

If your correspondence relates to an existing case - we will add it to
your case and consider it on allocation to a case officer.

Copied correspondence - we do not respond to correspondence that has been
copied to us.

For more information about our services, please see our webpage ‘Service
standards and what to expect' (go to our homepage and follow the links for
‘Report a concern’ and ‘Service standards and what to expect'). You can
also call the number below.

For information about what we do with personal data see our [2]privacy
notice.

If there is anything you would like to discuss with us, please call our
helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Yours sincerely

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Our newsletter

Details of how to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter can be found
[3]here.

Twitter

Find us on Twitter [4]here.

 

References

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4. http://www.twitter.com/ICOnews

ICO Casework, Information Commissioner's Office

1 March 2022

Our reference: IC-158261-K8M9 

Dear M Christopher,

Thank you for your recent request for information. We received your
request on 1 March 2022. Your request will be allocated to an Information
Access Officer who will contact you under the reference number above in
due course.
Under statutory timeframes our response to your freedom of information
request is due by 30 March 2022. Like many other organisations our work
has been disrupted by the pandemic. We continue to experience high demand
for our services while operating at reduced capacity. We are working as
hard as we can to respond to all of the requests we receive within the
statutory time period, but unfortunately it is not always possible for us
to do so.
If you have any queries about this information request you may email us,
quoting our reference number in the subject line. Please note that
Information Access Officers are only able to address information requests
to ICO; they are unable to assist with complaints to ICO, or to provide
general advice about the legislation we oversee, as this work is done by
other ICO departments.  
Our privacy notice explains what we do with the personal data you provide
to us when you make an information request:
https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice...
Thank you for your interest in the work of the Information Commissioner's
Office.
Yours sincerely,
Information Access Team
Information Commissioner’s Office 
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0303 123 1113 [1]ico.org.uk [2]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email

Please be aware we are often asked for copies of the correspondence we
exchange with third parties. We are subject to all of the laws we deal
with, including the data protection laws and the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. You can read about these on our website ([3]www.ico.org.uk).
Please say whether you consider any of the information you send us is
confidential. You should also say why. We will withhold information where
there is a good reason to do so.
For information about what we do with personal data see our privacy notice
at [4]www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice
 

References

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2. https://twitter.com/iconews
3. https://www.ico.org.uk/
4. https://www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice

ICO Casework, Information Commissioner's Office

1 Attachment

23 March 2022 

Case Reference: IC-158261-K8M9 
Dear Mark Christopher,

Please find attached our response to you information request of 30 March.

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with our under the FOIA or wish to complain about
how your request has been handled please write to the Information Access
Team at the address below or email [1][ICO request email].  

A request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40 working
days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request received after
this time will only be considered at the discretion of the Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation. To make such an application, please write
to our FOI Complaints & Appeals Department at the address below or visit
our [2]website if you wish to make a complaint under the Freedom of
Information Act.

A copy of our review procedure can be accessed from our website [3]here.

Your rights

Our [4]privacy notice explains what we do with the personal data you
provide to us and what your rights are, with a specific entry, for
example, for an [5]information requester. Our retention policy can be
found [6]here. 

Yours sincerely,

Frederick Aspbury 
Senior Information Access Officer 
Information Commissioner's Office

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 414 6397 [7]ico.org.uk [8]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
For information about what we do with personal data see our privacy notice
at [9]www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice.

References

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3. https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/p...
4. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/
5. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice...
6. https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/d...
7. https://ico.org.uk/
8. https://twitter.com/iconews
9. https://www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice

Mark Christopher

Dear Information Commissioner's Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Information Commissioner's Office's handling of my FOI request 'Time to resolve FOIA/EIR Complaints'.

- - - Please confirm that the information in the annual reports to which the ICO reply refers relates to cases finally resolved within six months from receipt of the complaint by the ICO (as per the original request)? And not six months from some later date, such as 'acceptance' of the complaint by the ICO, or the date of allocation to a case officer. If the annual report information relates to a later date, please provide the originally requested information.

- - - The Service Standards on the ICO website (https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...) refer to a “90%” six-month resolution target for FOIA and EIR cases. This differs from the “80%” figure referred to in the extract the ICO reply quotes from the 2019/2020 Annual Report. The 2020/2021 Annual Report seems to indicate (at best) a 70% six-month resolution for FOIA cases. It also refers (at p42) to steps focused on (reducing) the (increasing) “average age of our cases”.
- Please confirm that the ICO´s position is that no documented steps have been taken to achieve a “90%” six-month resolution target.
- Additionally, if there is documentation indicating steps to achieve some other “six month” target (whether 80% or otherwise), or otherwise to reduce the “average age of IC cases”, then please provide advice and assistance as to how to word a request to capture that documentation.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...

Yours faithfully,

Mark Christopher

icoaccessinformation, Information Commissioner's Office

Thank you for contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office. We confirm
that we have received your correspondence.

If you have made a request for information held by the ICO we will contact
you as soon as possible if we need any further information to enable us to
answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will
respond to you within our published, and statutory, service levels. For
more information please visit:

[1]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...

If you have raised a new information rights concern - we aim to send you
an initial response and case reference number within 30 days.

If you are concerned about the way an organisation is handling your
personal information, we will not usually look into it unless you have
raised it with the organisation first. For more information please see our
webpage ‘raising a concern with an organisation’ (go to our homepage and
follow the link ‘for the public’). You can also call the number below.

If you have requested advice - we aim to respond within 14 days. 

If your correspondence relates to an existing case - we will add it to
your case and consider it on allocation to a case officer.

Copied correspondence - we do not respond to correspondence that has been
copied to us.

For more information about our services, please see our webpage ‘Service
standards and what to expect' (go to our homepage and follow the links for
‘Report a concern’ and ‘Service standards and what to expect'). You can
also call the number below.

For information about what we do with personal data see our [2]privacy
notice.

If there is anything you would like to discuss with us, please call our
helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Yours sincerely

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Our newsletter

Details of how to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter can be found
[3]here.

Twitter

Find us on Twitter [4]here.

 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...
2. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/
3. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...
4. http://www.twitter.com/ICOnews

ICO Casework, Information Commissioner's Office

19 April 2022 

Case Reference: IC-158261-K8M9 

Dear Mark Christopher  

Thank you for your email of 5 April 2022.

Section 45 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) requires the
publication of a code of practice, designed to assist public authorities
handle requests under the FOIA. 

This guide recommends that public authorities put in place an internal
review process for FOIA responses, which our guide suggests should be
triggered whenever a requester expresses dissatisfaction with the outcome
of a request they have made. 

A review does not include the answering of clarificatory questions on the
information provided if those questions do not constitute the suggestion
that the FOIA has not been complied with.

 

I have therefore answered such questions below as follows:

 

1.   Please confirm that  the information in the annual reports to which
the ICO reply refers relates to cases finally resolved within six months
from receipt of the complaint by the ICO (as per the original request)? 
And not six months from some later date, such as 'acceptance' of the
complaint by the ICO, or the date of allocation to a case officer.  If the
annual report information relates to a later date, please provide the
originally requested information.

 

I so confirm that the information available in our annual reports relates
to the date of receipt of casework.

 

2.   Please confirm that the ICO´s position is that no documented steps
have been taken to achieve a “90%” six-month resolution target.

 

I have noting to add to my “no information held” response to this
question.

 

3.   Additionally, if there is documentation indicating steps to achieve
some other “six month” target (whether 80% or otherwise), or otherwise to
reduce the “average age of IC cases”, then please provide advice and
assistance as to how to word a request to capture that documentation.

 

I confirm that no like or related information was found in my reasonable
searches. 

That is, there is no current project work to deal with the targets
referenced. However, that is not to say that we are not cognisant of the
need to introduce and action plans in future, but any such plans would be
contingent on securing future additional funding and recruitment.

In the meantime, we have reviewed the [1]FOIA EIR Casework Service Guide
(ico.org.uk) that continues to reinforce good practice techniques that
case officers should employ to progress cases as quickly as possible.

 

As all your questions can be answered without the necessity for a review,
I would ask you to confirm you still wish for a review. You should note
that a reviewer will assess the compliance of my request based on the
searches I performed as well as the information and explanation provided.
They will likely not repeat the searches or internal consultations
themselves. 

Yours sincerely,

Frederick Aspbury 
Senior Information Access Officer 
Information Commissioner's Office
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 414 6397 [2]ico.org.uk [3]twitter.com/iconews  
Please consider the environment before printing this email

For information about what we do with personal data see our privacy notice
at [4]www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice. 

show quoted sections

Mark Christopher

Dear ICO Casework,

Thank you for your reply.

I confirm I do not wish to proceed with an Internal Review

Yours sincerely,

Mark Christopher

icocasework, Information Commissioner's Office

 

 

Thank you for contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office. We confirm
that we have received your correspondence. If you have any special
requirements that mean you would like us to communicate with you in a
specific way, please let us know and we will make adjustments if we can.

 

If you have asked us for advice - we will respond within 14 days. While
you wait, you should regularly check our website (www.ico.org.uk) for
relevant guidance, as we are updating this all the time. If you have
raised a question that we have answered on our website, we may respond by
sending you a link to it. But will do our best to provide you with the
information you need.

 

 

If you have made a new complaint - we’re unlikely to look into it unless
you have raised it with the responsible organization (for a data
protection complaint) or the responsible public authority (for a freedom
of information complaint) first. Please make sure you have sent us a copy
of their final response to you. We will assign your complaint to a case
officer as soon as we can, and they will contact you in due course.

 

 

If your correspondence relates to an existing case - we will add it to
your case and consider it on allocation to a case officer. If you believe
we have either failed to take appropriate steps to respond to your data
protection complaint, or we do not provide you with information about the
progress or outcome of your complaint within the next three months, you
may be able to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to require us to respond
to your complaint or to provide you with information about its progress.
(www.gov.uk - information rights and data protection: appeal against the
Information Commissioner)

 

 

If you represent an organisation and you are reporting a personal data
breach under the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018 - we aim to contact
you within seven days to confirm receipt and to provide you with a case
reference number. If you want advice urgently, you should telephone our
helpline on 0303 123 1113. If we consider the incident is minor or you
have indicated that you do not consider it meets the threshold for
reporting, you may not receive a response from us, or we may respond by
sending you a link to the relevant part of our guidance. You can find out
more about data breach reporting on our website.

 

Where a significant cyber incident occurs, you may also need to report
this to the National Cyber Security Centre (the NCSC). To help you decide,
you should read the NCSC’s guidance about their role and the type of
incidents that you should consider reporting. (www.ncsc.gov.uk
-incident-management)

 

Incidents that might lead to a heightened risk of individuals being
affected by fraud, should be reported to Action
Fraud (www.actionfraud.police.uk) - the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime
reporting centre. If your organisation is in Scotland, then reports should
be made to Police Scotland (www.scotland.police.uk).

 

 

 

If you are a Communications Service Provider reporting a security breach
under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations – you will
need to report the security breach via the secure portal that can be found
on the PECR pages of our website.

 

 

If you represent an organisation and are reporting a potential incident
under the NIS Directive - we will contact you as soon as we can. You can
find out more about the NIS Regulations on our website.

 

 

If you represent an organization and you are reporting a security breach
within the definition of the eIDAS regulation – we will contact you as
soon as we can. You can find out more about the eIDAS regulation on our
website.

 

If you have reported spam email – we are unlikely to need to contact you
again, unless we need more information to help with our investigations. We
publish details about the action we've taken on nuisance messages on our
website.

 

 

 

If you have asked for information you think we might hold - we will
contact you if we need any more information to help us respond. Otherwise,
we will respond within our public and statutory service levels. For more
information please visit our webpage ‘request information from us’ (go to
our homepage and follow the link for ‘about the ICO’ and ‘our
information’).

 

 

 

If you have only copied your correspondence to us - we will not respond.

 

 

 

There is more detailed information, including information on our current
response times, on our service standards and what to expect webpage. You
can also call 0303 123 1113, we welcome calls in Welsh on 029 2067 8400.
You can also contact us on live chat (please visit our webpage ‘contact
us’ and ‘live chat’).

 

 

For information about what we do with personal data please see our privacy
notice: https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diolch yn fawr ichi am gysylltu â Swyddfa’r Comisiynydd Gwybodaeth. Rydym
yn cadarnhau bod eich gohebiaeth wedi dod i law. Os oes gennych unrhyw
ofynion arbennig sy'n golygu yr hoffech i ni gyfathrebu â chi mewn ffordd
benodol, rhowch wybod i ni a byddwn yn gwneud addasiadau os gallwn.

 

 

Os ydych wedi gofyn am gyngor – byddwn yn ymateb o fewn 14 diwrnod. Tra
byddwch yn aros, dylech edrych yn rheolaidd ar ein [1]gwefan
(www.ico.org.uk) i chwilio am ganllawiau perthnasol, gan eu bod yn cael eu
diweddaru drwy’r amser. Hefyd dylech ddarllen ein [2]blogiau ynghylch
‘mythau’r GDPR’. Os ydych wedi codi cwestiwn sydd wedi’i ateb ar ein
gwefan, mae’n bosibl y byddwn yn ymateb drwy anfon dolen atoch i gysylltu
â’r ateb.  Ond fe wnawn ein gorau glas i roi’r wybodaeth angenrheidiol
ichi

 

 

 

Os ydych wedi gwneud cwyn newydd – dydyn ni ddim yn debygol o edrych i
mewn iddo oni bai eich bod wedi’i godi’n gyntaf gyda’r sefydliad cyfrifol
(cwyn am ddiogelu data) neu’r awdurdod cyhoeddus cyfrifol (cwyn am ryddid
gwybodaeth). Gofalwch eich bod wedi anfon copi aton ni o’u hymateb
terfynol ichi. Byddwn yn rhoi’ch achos i swyddog achosion cyn gynted ag y
gallwn, a bydd y swyddog yn cysylltu â chi maes o law.

 

 

 

Os yw’ch gohebiaeth yn ymwneud ag achos sydd eisoes yn bod - byddwn yn ei
hychwanegu at eich achos ac fe gaiff ei hystyried ar ôl cael ei dyrannu i
swyddog achosion. Os ydych yn credu ein bod ni naill ai wedi methu cymryd
camau priodol i ymateb i'ch cwyn diogelu data, neu heb ddarparu gwybodaeth
ichi am gynnydd neu ganlyniad eich cwyn o fewn y tri mis nesaf, efallai y
byddwch yn gallu gwneud cais i'r Tribiwnlys Haen Gyntaf i’w gwneud yn
ofynnol inni ICO ymateb i'ch cwyn neu ddarparu gwybodaeth ichi am gynnydd
eich cwyn. (www.gov.uk - information rights and data protection: appeal
against the Information Commissioner)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Os ydych yn cynrychioli sefydliad a’ch bod yn rhoi gwybod am drosedd data
personol o dan y GDPR neu Ddeddf Diogelu Data 2018 – rydym yn anelu at
gysylltu â chi o fewn saith niwrnod calendr i gadarnhau bod eich neges
wedi dod i law ac i roi rhif cyfeirnod achos ichi. Os oes arnoch eisiau
cyngor ar frys, dylech ffonio’n llinell gymorth ar 0303 123 1113. Os ydym
o’r farn bod y digwyddiad yn un mân neu os ydych chi wedi nodi nad ydych
o’r farn bod y digwyddiad yn cyrraedd y trothwy i roi gwybod amdano, mae’n
bosibl na chewch ymateb gennym, neu efallai y byddwn yn ymateb drwy anfon
dolen atoch i gysylltu â’r rhan berthnasol o'n canllawiau. Cewch ragor o
wybodaeth am roi gwybod am droseddau data ar ein gwefan.

 

 

Pan fo digwyddiad seibr arwyddocaol yn digwydd, mae’n bosibl y bydd angen
ichi roi gwybod amdano hefyd i’r Ganolfan Seiberddiogelwch Genedlaethol
(yr NCSC). I’ch helpu i benderfynu, dylech ddarllen canllawiau’r NCSC ar
eu rôl a’r math o ddigwyddiadau y dylech ystyried rhoi gwybod amdanyn nhw.
(www.ncsc.gov.uk -incident-management)

 

 

Dylai digwyddiadau a allai arwain at risg uwch y bydd twyll yn effeithio
ar unigolion gael eu cyfleu i Action Fraud (www.actionfraud.police.uk) –
sef canolfan genedlaethol y Deyrnas Unedig ar gyfer rhoi gwybod am dwyll a
seiberdroseddau. Os yw eich sefydliad yn yr Alban, yna i Heddlu’r Alban y
dylech chi roi gwybod (www.scotland.police.uk).

 

 

Os ydych yn Ddarparwr Gwasanaethau Cyfathrebu sy’n rhoi gwybod am dor
diogelwch o dan y Rheoliadau Preifatrwydd a Chyfathrebu Electronig – bydd
angen ichi roi gwybod am y tor diogelwch drwy’r [3]porth diogel sydd ar
gael ar y tudalennau ar ein gwefan sy’n ymwneud â’r PECR.

 

 

Os ydych yn cynrychioli sefydliad a’ch bod yn rhoi gwybod am ddigwyddiad
posibl o dan Gyfarwyddeb yr NIS – byddwn yn cysylltu â chi cyn gynted ag y
gallwn. Cewch ragor o wybodaeth am Reoliadau’r NIS ar ein gwefan.

 

 

Os ydych yn cynrychioli sefydliad a’ch bod yn rhoi gwybod am dor diogelwch
o fewn y diffiniad yn Rheoliad eIDAS – byddwn yn cysylltu â chi cyn gynted
ag y gallwn. Cewch ragor o wybodaeth am Reoliad eIDAS ar ein gwefan.

 

Os ydych wedi rhoi gwybod am ebost sbam – mae’n annhebygol y bydd angen
inni gysylltu â chi eto, oni bai bod arnon ni angen rhagor o wybodaeth i
helpu yn ein hymchwiliad. Rydym yn cyhoeddi gwybodaeth am y camau rydyn ni
wedi’u cymryd ynghylch negeseuon niwsans ar ein gwefan.

 

 

Os ydych wedi gofyn am wybodaeth yr ydych yn credu ei bod gennyn ni –
byddwn yn cysylltu â chi os bydd arnom angen rhagor o wybodaeth i’n helpu
i ymateb. Fel arall, byddwn yn ymateb ichi o fewn ein lefelau gwasanaeth
statudol a chyhoeddus. I gael rhagor o wybodaeth, ewch i’n tudalen gwe
‘request information from us’ (ewch i’n tudalen hafan a dilynwch y ddolen
‘about the ICO’ ac ‘our information’).

 

 

Os ydych wedi anfon copi o’ch gohebiaeth aton ni ond dim byd arall –
fyddwn ni ddim yn ymateb.

 

Mae gwybodaeth fanylach, gan gynnwys gwybodaeth am ein hamserau ymateb
presennol, ar ein tudalen gwe safonau gwasanaeth a beth i’w ddisgwyl.
Gallwch ffonio hefyd ar 029 2067 8400, neu yn Saesneg ar 0303 123 1113.
Gallwch gysylltu â ni hefyd i gael sgwrs fyw (ewch i’n tudalen gwe
‘contact us’ a ‘live chat’).

 

 

I gael gwybodaeth am yr hyn rydyn ni’n ei wneud â data personol, gweler
ein hysbysiad preifatrwydd: https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

 

 

Yn gywir

 

 

Swyddfa’r Comisiynydd Gwybodaeth 

 

bodaeth 

References

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