Information Legislation & Management Survey 2006 - Results
1. Institution Details
Q.1. What type of institution do you represent?
Q.2. In which country is your institution located in?
Q.3. Approximately how many full-time equivalent students does your institution have?
2. Requests
2.1. Definitions
Q.4. How does your institution define an FOI request (i.e. on what basis do you decide whether or not to record a request received)?
A Any request for recorded information received in written
form
B Any request which specifically states that it is an FOI request
C Requests for information that are considered 'non-standard'
or 'non-routine'
D Requests received for information not included in our publication
scheme
E Other
2.2. Volume of Requests
Q.5. According to the above definition, how many FOI or EIR or Data Protection Act (DPA) Subject Access Requests have you received during the following months?
Q.6. Of the total number of FOI and EIR requests received, how many have resulted in the following responses?
2.3. Types of Request
Q.7. How many of the requests you have received have cited the following specific legislation?
FOI 1352 requests (60.9% of the total FOI requests received)
EIR 3 requests (18.6% of the total EIR requests received)
DPA 396 request (63.1% of the total DPA SAR received)
Total 1751 requests (61.2% of all categories of requests received)
Q.8. How many requests have you received which have been 'mixed' requests (i.e. which have required handling under more than one piece of information access legislation)?
121 mixed requests received.
Q.9. Of the total number of requests received which you have dealt with under FOI how many have related to the following subject areas: (if a request covers more than one of the areas outlined below please record it under the principal subject area)?
* Note: Figures for 'student issues' were not collected in 2005, but where included as a separate category in 2006 due to the large number of student-related requests featuring in the 'other' category for 2005.
2.4. Types of Requestor
Q.10. Of the FOI & EIR requests you have received since January 2006 how many have been from each of the following categories of requestor? Separate figures for FOI and EIR
* Note: Figures for 'Trade Unions' were not collected in 2005, but where included as a separate category in 2006 due to the large number of requests from trade unions featuring in the 'other' category for 2005.
2.5 Responding to Requests
Q.11. If you routinely record the amount of time it takes to answer an FOI or EIR request please indicate how many requests have taken the following periods of time to complete. (including forwarding / logging of request, identifying and locating relevant information, considering exemptions, redacting / preparing information for release, internal approval process for release).
If you do not record this information, please indicate which of the following lengths of time you feel that the majority of requests have taken to answer.
Q.12. If you routinely record the amount of time it takes to answer a DPA Subject Access Requests please indicate how many requests have taken the following periods of time to complete.
If you do not record this information, please indicate which of the following lengths of time you feel that the majority of requests have taken to answer.
Q.13. How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2006 which you did not complete within 20 working days?
90 requests out of a total of 2235 (4.0%) received were not completed within 20 working days.
Q.14. How many DPA subject access requests did you receive during 2006 which you did not complete within 40 days?
31 Subject Access Requests out of a total of 628 (4.9%) were not completed within 40 days.
Q.15. If appropriate, how many of those FOI requests noted in your answer to Question 13 were caused by extensions to the deadline to allow for consideration of the public interest test?
Of those 90, 11 (0.5%) were caused by extensions to the deadline to allow for consideration of the public interest test.
Q.16. Please rank the steps below in order of the amount of time they usually take when completing an FOI or EIR request (ranging from 1 = longest time to complete to 7 = shortest time to complete)
Q.17. On average, how many members of staff are actively involved in responding to an FOI, EIR or DPA request?
Q.18. How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2006 for which you charged a fee?
5 out of 1702 requests (0.3%) which were either answered partially or in full resulted in a fee being charged.
Q.19. How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2006 for which you charged for disbursements?
4 out of 1702 requests (0.2%) which were either answered partially or in full resulted in disbursements being charged.
Q.20. During 2006 how many DPA subject access requests did you charge a £10 fee for?
416 out of 628 Subject Access Requests (66.2%) required payment of a £10 fee.
Q.21. Do you publish the FOI or EIR requests you have received and the answers / information you have given (e.g. in the form of a disclosure log)?
3 institutions do publish the information they provide.
53 institutions do not.
2.6. Exemptions Applied
Q.22. Since January 2006 how many times have you relied on the following exemptions to withhold information requested under FOI?
Key to exemption numbers
21 Information accessible to applicant by other means
22 Information intended for future publication
23 Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters
24 National security
25 Certificates under ss 23 and 24: supplementary provisions
26 Defence
27 International relations
28 Relations within the United Kingdom
29 The economy
30 Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
31 Law enforcement
32 Court records, etc
33 Audit functions
34 Parliamentary privilege
35 Formulation of government policy, etc
36 Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs
37 Communications with Her Majesty, etc and honours
38 Health and safety
39 Environmental information
40 Personal information
41 Information provided in confidence
42 Legal professional privilege
43 Commercial interests
44 Prohibitions on disclosure
2.7. Appeals process
Q.23. Since January 2006 how many requests for information which have been either partially or completely refused by the institution have subsequently been subject to an internal appeal?
52 decisions to withhold information have been subject to an internal appeal (2.3% of all FOI/EIR requests received, 6.3% of requests refused in full or part)
Q.24. How many of these decisions to refuse a request, either partially or completely, were:
36 Upheld by the internal appeal (69.2% of decisions to refuse)
14 Overruled by the internal appeal (26.9% of decisions to refuse)
2 Decisions still pending (3.8% decisions to refuse)
Q.25. How many requests since January 2006 have been the subject of external appeal (i.e. involving the Office of the Information Commissioner, Scottish Information Commissioner, the Information Tribunal or the Court of Session)?
9 decisions to withhold information have been the subject of external appeal (0.4% of all FOI/EIR requests received, 1.1% of requests refused in full or part)
Q.26. How many of these decisions to refuse a request, either partially or completely, were:
2 Upheld completely by the external appeal
1 Upheld in part by the external appeal
0 Over ruled by the external appeal
6 Decisions still pending
Q.27. How many times since January 2006 have you sought formal legal advice when responding to a request or appeal?
Legal advise has been sought on 37 occasions regarding FOI matters, 25 times regarding DPA issues and 0 times regarding the EIR
3. Staffing Issues
Q.28. Do you have an officially designated FOI Officer and/or team?
52 (91.2%) Yes
5 (8.8%) No
Q.29. If so, approximately what equivalent FTE resource is devoted to FOI issues (please note this can be more than 1.0 FTE if more than one person is employed in this area)
4. Records Management
Q.30. Does your institution have an officially designated Records Manager and/or team?
34 (59.6%) Yes
23 (40.4%) No
Q.31. If so, approximately what equivalent FTE resource is devoted to Records Management issues (please note this can be more than 1.0 FTE if more than one person is employed in this area
Q.32. Do you have an approved records management policy in place?
41 (71.9%) Yes
15 (26.3%) No
Q.33. Is your institution implementing or planning to implement in the near future an Electronic Document & Records Management System?
23 (40.4%) Yes
34 (59.6%) No
Steve Bailey
JISC infoNet
1st March 2007
