Ian,
The unanswered requests are the great black hole of FOI. I would guess that anywhere from 5-15% of requests go unanswered at any one time. The key challenge for the ICO is that if no one complains they have no way of knowing. The unknown unknown. Aside from physically inspecting the records, there is no way to know. (Some thing could be designed but is the question compliance or freedom of information?)
If you add to this the number of requests where the applicant does not respond to a request to clarify, the number grows.
For example, journalists will often send a request to all, or nearly all, councils. How many journalists complain if the requests are unmet? Perhaps a handful and then it is usually to the organisation. At that point the Ice-cream law applies. (They scream I work.) Yes, there are a number of valid reasons why FOI requests are unmet so it is not all down to the organisations failing to respond. For example, an applicant may abandon a request and then never tell the authority.
Yes, there is guidance on closing such requests, but can you imagine holding a fair portion of requests awaiting a response from the applicant. (we do, but that is an aside as the applicants have been known to come back after 2 months to follow up on a clarification).
The press, for the most part, are interested in the story and FOI is not the story, the subject of their request is the story. If they had 90% of their requests met, is there any need or desire to complain or chase the remaining 10%?
At the same time, organisations are likely to work on a risk vs. reward basis. (I would not encourages that, but that is life.) They are likely to weigh up the chance of a complaint to the ICO (worse case scenario) and believe that they can play those odds. Remember, the applicant is encouraged to contact the authority first before the ICO if there is a failure to respond.
If an applicant were to follow up, I would prioritize because it is live and of interest and I would take a great interest in an overdue request. However, the issue for most is the following scenario
If you have 10 requests that are due on a day, and you have 8 responses ready but 2 are going to go overdue. The applicant of one calls on the day saying "where is my request" and the other one appears to be from a national media campaign sent to all the Councils (and the article that appears to be designed to support has already been published), which one do you prioritise?
Best,
Lawrence
Principal Information Management Officer
Durham County Council
Room 4/140
County Hall
County Durham
DH1 5UF
0191-372-8371
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Griffiths, Ian
Sent: 01 December 2010 14:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] CCTV
Would be interested to see those as a percentage of the total size of the respective councils.
Another shocking stat in that article - 80 failed to respond. Thoughts?
Ian
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ibrahim Hasan
Sent: 01 December 2010 12:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] CCTV
UK privacy group Big BrotherWatch 'names and shames' CCTV big spenders:
http://ow.ly/3i3dR
Ibrahim Hasan
Act Now Training
www.actnow.org.uk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Help protect our environment by only printing this email if absolutely necessary. The information it contains and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are only intended for the person or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may be unlawful for you to use, share or copy the information, if you are not authorised to do so. If you receive this email by mistake, please inform the person who sent it at the above address and then delete the email from your system. Durham County Council takes reasonable precautions to ensure that its emails are virus free. However, we do not accept responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of viruses we might transmit and recommend that you should use your own virus checking procedures.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|