This really depends on who is responsible for FOI compliance in your
organisation.
If your role is purely administrative then you do not need access - but
SOMEONE has to assess and advise on sensitive information and almost
certainly it is not the holder - as he/she will not have the necessary
knowledge and experience of the act.
In my view there are probably only two choices - the lawyers or specialist
FOI staff.
In my organisation it is the latter. Although it can require some
sensitive cajoling, essentially the principle is that we can see whatever
we need to see to do the job. We cleared this in principle before 1
January 2005 by establishing a cear independence on such matters,
reporting only to the Monitoring Officer. In effect we are a bit like
Internal Audit.
If access is for the purpose of complying with the statutory duties under
the Act there are NO confidentiality or DPA issues raised by the giving of
such access.
Obviously the staff concerned have to be fully aware of the high level of
trust given to them, and have the confidence of the organisation.
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