Use of automated decision-making and automated decision support tools

Caroline Selman made this Freedom of Information request to Breckland District Council as part of a batch sent to 381 authorities Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

Breckland District Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Breckland District Council,

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, to make a request for information relating to your organisation’s use of automated decision making and automated decision support tools and systems (ADM tools).

For the purposes of this request, an automated decision is one in which an automated system performs at least part of the decision-making process, including:

- Decision support: where an automated system provides additional information to aid a human decision-maker in their decisions (e.g. a system assesses whether someone poses a risk of housing benefit fraud, and presents that risk score to a decision maker to inform their decision)),

- Streaming or triage: where an automated system determines the type and quality of human judgment involved in a particular case (e.g. a system deems an individual’s application to present a high risk of housing benefit fraud, which means the application is directed to a particular team to review)

- Fully automated: where an automated system takes a decision and action in relation to a person or group without human input (e.g. a system automatically assesses and approves an application)

Automation refers to any form of automation including. but not limited to, data matching, profiling, machine learning or any other tools that use software algorithms to generate outputs.

Examples of ADM usage could include, for example, risk assessments in adult social care or social housing decisions.

Please provide the following:

1. Copies of any inventory that the authority has of tools, artificial intelligence or software algorithms used to assist in decision-making.

2. If not included in the above, the names of any such tools.

3. Where a process contains ADM or is partially supported by automated tools, any Equality Impact Assessments that have been carried out.

4. Where a process contains ADM or is partially supported by automated tools, any Data Protection Impact Assessments that have been carried out.

Yours faithfully,

Caroline Selman

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

Dear Caroline Selman,

 

Please take this as confirmation that your FOI has been received.

 

We will provide our response within 20 working days of receipt.

 

Kind regards,

Information Governance Team
Breckland Council

Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke, Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1EE

 

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Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

1 Attachment

Please see our response to your FOI.

 

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may request an internal
review within forty working days.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Information Governance Team
Breckland Council

Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke, Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1EE

 

Email disclaimer:
The information contained in this email is confidential and intended only
for the person or organisation to which it is addressed. If you have
received it by mistake, please disregard and notify the sender
immediately. Unauthorised disclosure or use of such information may be a
breach of legislation or confidentiality and the content may be legally
privileged. Any improper dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying
of this email is strictly prohibited. Emails sent from and received by
employees of Breckland District Council may be monitored. They may also be
disclosed to other people under legislation, particularly the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you have contacted the
Council for a service any personal data you share will be used to help you
access its services, or to answer your enquiry in line with our Privacy
Policy. For full details of your rights please visit our website at
www.breckland.gov.uk. Unless this email relates to Breckland District
Council business it will be regarded by the Council as personal and will
not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the Council.