Review of Information and Legislation Management Survey
The JISC infoNet Information Legislation & Management survey has been run annually since 2005 and has established itself as an important reference source regarding the sector's compliance with information-related legislation and the impact this is having on institutions. We are aware that completing the survey is time consuming and want to be sure that every question and the data it provides is considered useful by the sector. We are also aware that many institutions collect their own data regarding their own performance in this area and, where possible, it makes sense to harmonise our work with any emerging standard practice within the sector.
This review is therefore intended to give practitioners working within the sector the opportunity to influence future iterations of the survey, starting with the survey for 2009 which will be launched in January 2010. We do not expect reviewers to comment on every question (though please do if you wish) but would welcome any thoughts and comments provided. Please click the 'Review' button after the question you wish to respond to and complete the information requested.
We will consider all comments and suggestions received but obviously will not be able to incorporate all of them. We would also ask reviewers to bear in mind that one of the ever-growing advantages of this survey is the longitudinal picture that is beginning to emerge and which will get more illustrative each year the survey is run. This has only been possible by using the same questions each year. Reviewers are therefore asked to weigh up the advantages of changing a question against the potential disadvantages of losing any continuity and opportunity for cross-analysis with results from previous years.
This review is open until Friday 27th November. Your participation in it is greatly appreciated.
1 Institution details
2 Requests
2.1. Definitions
Q.5. How does your institution define an FOI request (i.e. on what basis do you decide whether or not to record a request received)?
- All requests received for information not included in our publication scheme
- Any request for recorded information received in written form
- Only requests which specifically state that it is an FOI request
- Requests for information that are considered 'non-standard' or 'non-routine'
- Rely on FOISA s.8 definition (Scottish institutions only)
- Other
2.2 Volume of requests
Q.6. According to the above definition, how many FOI or EIR requests or Data Protection Act (DPA) Subject Access Requests have you received during the following months:
FOI
EIR
DPA
Comparison
Q.7. Of the total number of FOI and EIR requests received how many have resulted in the following responses:
2.3. Types of request
Q.8. How many of the requests you have received have cited the following specific legislation?
| FOI | 2078 requests (58.4% of the total FOI requests received) |
| EIR | 9 requests (39.1% of the total EIR requests received) |
| DPA | 593 request (59.2% of the total DPA SAR received) |
| Total | 2680 requests (58.5% of all categories of requests received) |
Q.9. 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)?
93 mixed requests received
Q.10. 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. Figures for 'IT provision & use' and 'Commercial activities' were only collected from 2007.
2.4. Types of requester
Q.11. Of the FOI & EIR requests you have received since January 2008 how many have been from each of the following categories of requester. Please provide separate figures for FOI and EIR:
FOI
EIR
Comparison
*Note: Figures for 'Trade Unions' were not collected in 2005. Figures for 'MPs/political parties' were collected in 2008 only.
2.5 Responding to requests
Q.12. If you routinely record the amount of time it takes to answer an FOI/EIR request or DPA SAR 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.
FOI/EIR
DPA
Q.13 How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2008 which you did not complete within 20 working days?
116 requests out of a total of 3581 (3.2%) received were not completed within 20 working days
Of those 116, 15 (0.4%) were caused by extensions to the deadline to allow for consideration of the public interest test
Q.14. How many DPA subject access requests did you receive during 2008 which you did not complete within 40 days?
24 Subject Access Requests out of a total of 1002 (2.3%) were not completed within 40 days
Q.15. 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.16. On average, how many members of staff are actively involved in responding to an FOI, EIR or DPA request?
Q.17. How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2008 for which you charged a fee?
16 out of 3581 requests (0.45%) which were either answered partially or in full resulted in a fee being charged
Q.18. How many FOI or EIR requests did you receive during 2008 for which you charged for disbursements
8 out of 3581 requests (0.22%) which were either answered partially or in full resulted in disbursements being charged
Q.19. During 2008 how many DPA subject access requests did you charge a £10 fee for?
481 out of 1002 Subject Access Requests (48.0%) required payment of a £10 fee
Q.20. 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)?
6 institutions do publish the information they provide
37 institutions do not
2.6 Excemptions applied
Q.21. Since January 2008 how many times have you relied on the following exemptions to withhold information requested under FOI
Key to exemption numbers
- Information accessible to applicant by other means
- Information intended for future publication
- Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters
- National security
- Certificates under ss. 23 and 24: supplementary provisions
- Defence
- International relations
- Relations within the United Kingdom
- The economy
- Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
- Law enforcement
- Court records, etc
- Audit functions
- Parliamentary privilege
- Formulation of government policy, etc
- Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs
- Communications with Her Majesty, etc. and honours
- Health and safety
- Environmental information
- Personal information
- Information provided in confidence
- Legal professional privilege
- Commercial interests
- Prohibitions on disclosure
Comparison
2.7. Appeals process
Q.22. Since January 2008 how many requests for information which have been either partially or completely refused by the institution have subsequently been subject to an internal appeal
54 decisions to withhold information have been subject to an internal appeal (1.5% of all FOI/EIR requests received)
Of these:
43 Upheld by the internal appeal
7 Overruled by the internal appeal
3 Decisions still pending
Q.23. How many requests since January 2008 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)?
15 decisions to withhold information have been the subject of external appeal (0.42% of all FOI/EIR requests received)
How many of these decisions to refuse a request, either partially or completely, were:
3 Upheld completely by the external appeal
2 Upheld in part by the external appeal
1 Overruled by the external appeal
Q.24. How many times since January 2008 have you sought formal legal advice when responding to a request or appeal?
Legal advice has been sought on 31 occasions regarding FOI matters
22 times regarding DPA issues and 1 time regarding the EIR
3 Staffing issues
Q.25. Do you have an officially designated FOI Officer and/or team?
45 (64%) Yes
Q.26. 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.27. Does your institution have an officially designated Records Manager and/or team?
39 (86.7%) Yes
6 (13.3%) No
Q.28. Do you have an approved records management policy in place?
36 (80%) Yes
9 (20%) No
Q.29. Which of the following best describes your institution's approach to implementing an Electronic Document & Records Management System?
Q.30 What use have you made of the data from previous iterations of this survey within your institution?
