Scottish Borders Council turns FOI compliance around

Scottish Information Commissioner
News Release: 7 December 2010

The Scottish Information Commissioner has welcomed a report showing that Scottish Borders Council has improved its performance in complying with freedom of information (FOI) requirements, to the extent that it is now demonstrating some exemplary practice.

In 2009, the Council had only complied with the statutory 20 working days allowed for responding to FOI requests in 71% of cases. Between 1 June and 31 October 2010, however, the Council had improved this performance to 99.7%

It has also implemented improvements in its staff training, systems and guidance for the public on making information requests to the Council.

The improvements follow an on-site practice assessment at the Council, undertaken by the Commissioner's staff, in February. Practice assessments help the Commissioner identify where an authority is failing to comply with FOI laws, and then work with the authority to agree an action plan to improve its practice and achieve compliance.

The Commissioner issued his first Practice Recommendation to the Council following the assessment, calling for specific practice improvements, including compliance with statutory timescales.

Kevin Dunion, Scottish Information Commissioner, said:

"The turnaround at Scottish Borders Council is highly commendable, and shows what can be achieved when we work together. Practice assessments are a vital part of my enforcement strategy which aims to help authorities improve their response to freedom of information requests from the public. Good practice reduces the number of appeals that people have to make to me, reduces the burden on authorities and gets information into the hands of the public more quickly."

Full press release here.
Assessment Report and Action Plan can be downloaded here.

Information Commissioner intervenes to improve internal review process

ICO press release
22 Dec 2009

Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, has used his powers to secure improvements in the way two public bodies conduct internal reviews under the Freedom of Information Act. In line with the Information Commissioner’s enforcement strategy, Christopher Graham has issued practice recommendations to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Cardiff County Council. Both authorities have repeatedly failed to comply with the timescales for responding to requests for internal reviews set out in the Code of Practice and the Commissioner’s guidance.

The Information Commissioner has issued a practice recommendation to Cardiff County Council after it repeatedly failed to conduct internal reviews promptly. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found evidence which showed a number of internal reviews appeared incomplete despite being open for over two years. The recommended period of time for completing an internal review is 20 working days or 40 days in exceptional cases. In no instance should the time taken to conduct a review exceed 40 working days.
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The Information Commissioner has also issued a practice recommendation to UKBA after it failed numerous times to conduct internal reviews. Following complaints to the ICO, UKBA confirmed that during the period 21 January 2007 to 21 July 2008, only 17 of 46 internal review decisions had been completed within 40 working days. During the period of 1 August 2008 to 31 January 2009 only 10% were completed within 20 working days and 57% of reviews took in excess of 40 working days to complete. Prior to serving this practice recommendation the ICO monitored UKBA’s handling of internal reviews. Despite some progress, UKBA has still been failing to meet the Information Commissioner’s recommended targets.

ICO press release here.
Cardiff County Council practice recommendation here.
UK Border Agency practice recommendation here.

Ministry of Defence criticised for freedom of information handling

The Information Commissioner's Office has issued the Ministry of Defence with a practice recommendation ordering it to improve its handling of internal reviews and ensure its standard target for completing internal reviews conforms to the Commissioner's guidance. The guidance states that reviews should normally be completed within 20 working days and in no case should the time taken exceed 40 working days.

The practice recommendation states:

Having viewed the available evidence, the Commissioner was concerned that the MOD was failing to conduct reviews promptly and that in so doing was failing to adhere to his published guidance in this respect.
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In addition to his concerns that the MOD was failing to conform to the Code and to his guidance, the Commissioner also found that the standard target for internal review completion set in the MOD’s procedure and in correspondence it sent to requesters was 40 working days. It appeared to the Commissioner, therefore, that non-conformity to his recommendations was built into the MOD’s review procedure.

In October 2008...the Commissioner, via his FOI Good Practice and Enforcement Team, wrote to the MOD and informally sought assurances that its internal review procedure would be amended to reflect his recommendations.

The MOD provided the Commissioner with statistics regarding the timeliness of its reviews. It acknowledged that its performance required improvement and gave assurances in this regard. The MOD declined to make the recommended changes to its internal review procedure, despite being advised that failure to do so would increase the likelihood that a practice recommendation would be issued, particularly if further complaints regarding this issue were received.

The MOD’s failure to follow the Commissioner’s informal recommendations and the evidence of its continuing poor performance has led to the issuing of this practice recommendation

ICO press release here.
The practice recommendation is here.

Greater Manchester Police criticised for FOI handling

ICO press release
6 April 2009

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Greater Manchester Police to improve its handling of internal reviews after a catalogue of failings by the authority.

The ICO has issued a practice recommendation to Greater Manchester Police for failing, on various occasions, to respond to internal reviews within the recommended timescales. Prior to serving this practice recommendation, the ICO made numerous attempts to offer advice and guidance to the authority, in the hope that the matter could be resolved without the need for further intervention.

Assistant Information Commissioner, Gerrard Tracey, said: “In one particular case, Greater Manchester Police failed to respond to an internal review for over 150 working days. This, coupled with the authority’s lack of engagement when the ICO provided advice and guidance, highlights the poor practice in its handling of internal reviews.

“The ICO will continue to monitor Greater Manchester Police’s freedom of information procedures and performance and will assess its progress against the ICO’s recommendations in six months.”

Failure to comply with the practice recommendation may lead to an Enforcement Notice being served or an adverse comment in a report to Parliament by the ICO.

View a copy of the practice recommendation

Department of Health must improve its management of records

ICO press release
9 March 2009

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a formal practice recommendation to the Department of Health regarding its record management practice. This follows a request by the ICO, and with the agreement of the Department, for the National Archives (TNA) to conduct an assessment of records management practice at the authority.
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The assessment found that there are good central policies and guidance in place. However, much of the responsibility for day-to-day management of records has been devolved to local staff, leading to the development of local practices, some of which lack consistency across the Department. The recommendation concludes that senior managers must do more to ensure that good behaviours and practices are reinforced, especially in the face of organisational changes.
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This is the second practice recommendation the ICO has issued to the Department of Health for failing to meet its requirements under the Freedom of Information Act. In April 2008 the Department was served a practice recommendation in relation to its handling of FOI requests.

The Information Commissioner recognises that the Department is already working to improve its records management practices and welcomes this approach. The ICO will continue to monitor the Department’s request handling and records management functions and with the support of TNA, will be assessing its progress against the recommendations.

View the practice recommendation.
view a copy of the National Archives assessment report.