Welsh councils' response rates to FOI requests
01 May 2009
A WLGA Spokesperson said:
“To compare local authority percentages in this way is spurious. Firstly the results assume that each one of the 14,000 plus requests received were legitimate FOI requests - which is unlikely and secondly they do not take into account the individual circumstances behind each case. Presenting these percentages in this way and not comparing like for like across Wales is a misleading and an unreliable reflection of councils’ openness and transparency.
Every local authority is committed to being as open and transparent as possible in their approach to public policy and data handling. Furthermore, each council has protocols in place for dealing with requests for information and invest a considerable amount of resources in doing so, both in terms of staff time and financially. This research highlights over 14,000 FOI requests received across Wales but it would be interesting to know how many of these are officially FOI’s? Hundreds of the requests that are sent to councils on a daily basis are neither legally nor officially defined as FOI. Many of them are covered by the Data Protection Act meaning that there is no legal requirement on councils to provide this information. Indeed, it would be against public interest to disclose this information. There are over 26 ‘absolute’ and ‘qualified’ exemptions where consideration of the public interest is required in assessing whether to provide the requested information. These exemptions are not set by councils but by strict guidance set within the FOI Act itself and by the Information Commissioner. In cases where an authority has not provided an FOI response for valid reasons, the person or organisation requesting the information is provided with a detailed explanation as well as having the right to appeal. In such circumstances, the case is then forwarded to the Information Commissioner and the local authority is required to justify its reasoning.”