Issue - meetings

The Committee considered an update report on the monitoring of the Council’s performance in dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests. 

Following a fall in performance standards during 2020-21, largely due to the Covid pandemic lockdown and recent corporate restructures, performance rates for timely delivery of FOI/EIR requests within the 20- working day deadline had since improved over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years.

The Committee noted that during the first six months of 2023 (January to June inclusive – i.e. Quarter 4 of 2022-23 and Quarter 1 of 2023-24) the Council had received 376 FOI/EIR requests – of which 90.5% were responded to within the 20 working day statutory deadline.  This was line with the Corporate Management Board’s set target of 90%. 

Furthermore, following the Committee’s request to monitor, as an additional target, response rates dealt with promptly within 10 working days (i.e., half of the statutory time limit), it was reported that, during this period 145 (38.5% of the total) were responded to within 10 or fewer working days.  This compared favourably with the overall 2022-23 figure of 36.5%.

Questions and comments from the Committee raised the following points:

·      In response to a request for information as to how the number of requests made had compared with similar periods in previous years, and the impact of signposting people to relevant information on the website, the Information Governance Officer indicated that the disclosure log on the website, which contained copies of responses to previous similar requests for information, had brought down the number of formal requests to a small extent.   The Lead Councillor for Engagement and Customer Services indicated that she was happy to look at providing comparative information for future reports.

·      It was noted that there had been only three internal reviews during the period in question and no appeals to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Committee

RESOLVED: That the update report be noted and that the Committee continues to receive regular updates.

Reasons:

·      To ensure that the Committee is kept up to date with developments in the FOI/EIR framework.

·      To ensure that the Committee has the necessary information to enable requests for information to be made easily to the Council and properly responded to.

·      To assist with learning lessons and improving performance following requests for information made to the Council.

The Committee considered an update report on the monitoring of the Council’s performance in dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests. 

Following a fall in performance standards during 2020-21 largely due to the Covid pandemic lockdown and recent corporate restructures, performance rates for timely delivery of FOI/EIR requests within the 20-working day deadline had since improved over the 2021-22 financial year as well as during the first half of the 2022 calendar year.

The Committee noted that the Council had received 592 FOI/EIR requests during the 2021-22 financial year, of which 92% were responded to within the 20-working day deadline. This marked a 10% improvement in performance from the 2020-21 financial year.  The Council therefore now exceeded the Information Commissioner’s performance indicator of 85%, and the 90% target agreed by Corporate Management Team.

Furthermore, following the Committee’s request to monitor, as an additional target, response rates dealt with within 10 working days, the Committee noted that, during the 2021-22 financial year, 225 requests (38% of the total) were responded to within 10 or fewer working days.

The Council’s performance rate for the first quarter of the current financial year (April to June 2022) had seen a continuation of this trend with 93% of the 221 requests being on target, of which 80 (36%) had been closed within 10 or fewer working days.

The Committee

RESOLVED: That the Freedom of Information Compliance Report for 2021 be noted and that the Committee continues to receive six monthly updates.

Reasons:

·       To ensure that the Committee is kept up to date with developments in the FOI/EIR framework

·       To ensure that the Committee has the necessary information to enable requests for information to be made easily to the Council and properly responded to

·       To assist with learning lessons and improving performance following requests for information made to the Council

The Committee considered the monitoring report on the Council’s performance in dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests. 

Following a fall in performance standards during 2020-21 largely due to the Covid pandemic lockdown and recent corporate restructures, the Committee was pleased to note that performance rates for timely delivery of FOI/EIR requests had since improved over the period of the first half of the calendar year 2021.

The Council had received 299 FOI/EIR requests during the first half of 2021, which represented a 21% increase in volume from the equivalent period last year.  The Council’s performance rate for 2021 so far (figures covering January to June 2021) stood at 88.6% of FOI/EIR requests being answered on time. This compared favourably with the overall figure of 80% for the calendar year of 2020. The Council therefore now exceeded the Information Commissioner’s performance indicator of 85% and was close to the 90% target agreed by Corporate Management Team.

It was noted that the report had calculated the overall percentage of requests answered on time as an average of all the percentage response rates for each service area, rather than a simple calculation of the percentage of the total number of requests answered on time against the total number received.  Future reports would calculate the overall percentage response rate using this method.

The Committee welcomed the Council’s improved performance in responding to FOI/EIR requests but noted that underperforming service areas were being monitored and advice and assistance offered where necessary.

The Committee

RESOLVED: That the Freedom of Information Compliance Report for January to June 2021 be noted, together with the officer actions, and that the Committee continues to receive regular updates.

Reasons:

·       To ensure that the Committee is kept up to date with developments in the FOI/EIR framework

·       To ensure that the Committee has the necessary information to enable requests for information to be made easily to the Council and properly responded to

·       To assist with learning lessons and improving performance following requests for information made to the Council