ICO publishes list of bodies being monitored for FOI delays

The Information Commissioner's Office has today published a list of public authorities which it is monitoring because it appears they are not meeting the FOI Act's time limits:

In putting the list together the ICO looked at the number of complaints it had received, published data showing where less than 85% of requests had received a response within appropriate timescales and also occasions where authorities had exceeded time limits by a significant margin.

The ICO’s Deputy Commissioner, Graham Smith said:

‘In the five years since the Freedom of Information Act was brought into force, a significant number of the complaints we receive are about organisations that take too long to respond to information requests.

‘We will monitor the authorities named today for three months, but may take action during this timeframe if an authority’s standard of compliance is revealed to be particularly poor, or if it is unwilling to make the improvements necessary.

‘This is a perfect opportunity for the authorities named to get their houses in order and demonstrate that they take freedom of information requests seriously.’

See:
Full press release
List of monitored bodies