Information & Legislation Management Survey 2009

The 5th annual JISC infoNet, Guild HE and Universities UK Information Legislation & Management Survey attracted 45 responses, a 36% reduction of the response rate compared with 2008 Survey.

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As anticipated, the number of requests being made under the Freedom of Information & Data Protection Acts and the Environmental Information Regulations has continued the general upward trend witnessed in previous years. Freedom of Information requests have, for the fifth consecutive year, seen another marked increase with an average monthly number of requests received per institution of 6.2 in 2009 compared with 5.4 in 2008 (having started from a base of just 2.8 per institution in 2005). The volume of Data Protection Data requests has also seen a particularly marked increase at a rate of 57%, with each institution now receiving an average of 3.11 requests per month in 2009 compared with 2.0 in 2008.

It is worth noting that the month of July seems to be the busiest in terms of the number of information requests received by the sector in relation to all three information strands. This could be putting additional pressure on the organisations with increased numbers of staff being on annual leave during summer months. It is difficult to say with any certainly why this might be so, though given that 2009 saw a significant increase in the number of requests received from journalists it is possible that this might be linked to the fact that this is a time of the year traditionally viewed as 'quiet' from a current affairs perspective and can therefore be at least partially explained by journalists looking for subjects for potential stories.

The highest numbers of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were in relation to 'Student issues' - 15%, with 'Admissions' and 'Financial Information' representing 14% each. This continues perhaps a reflection of current public concern regarding the effect of the recession on student intake and financial management of institutions.

Despite the increased demand on the sector in relation to FOI and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests, its reputation for openness and transparency is further strengthened by an increase in the amount of requests that were answered in full from 59% in 2008 to 66% in 2009.

In line with the previous comment, most categories of exemptions have seen a steady reduction except for Section 40 'Personal Information', which has risen by 24%, undoubtedly linked to the corresponding rise in the number of Data Protection Act subject access requests received during the same year already reported. As with previous years alongside the use of Section 40, exemptions under Sections 21 and 43 ('Information accessible to the applicant by other means' and 'Commercial Interests' respectively) continue to represent the main reasons for withholding information.

The figures on percentage split of total elapsed time spent on preparing FOI and EIR requests seem to suggest that, if anything, institutions are getting more effective at answering requests - perhaps alleviating some of the concerns regarding what impact a continued rise in request numbers would have in the future without a corresponding improvement in information management and request handling. Evidence to support this assertion comes in the form of an increase of the percentage of FOI & EIR requests that were completed within 1 day from 5% in 2008 to 11% in 2009.

On average, there hasn't been a significant difference in time that FOI and EIR requests take through all stages of work. The percentage of institutions who feel that requests take either a 'long', 'very long or 'extremely long' time to complete has risen by only 3%, despite the increase in the volume of requests received. The biggest reduction in time related to 'Time taken to officially log a request' (20% in 2008 down to 9% in 2009). The 'Time taken reviewing the information' category has risen from 48% in 2008 to 65% in 2009. Such process improvements may in part be due to an increase in the FTE resource devoted to information legislation and management issues which continued its upward trend. In 2009, 91% of institutions reported having an officially designated FOI Officer and/or team as opposed to 64% in 2008 (though this may also in part be a reflection of the reduced number of institutions who completed the survey this year, with perhaps those with dedicated resource in this area being most likely to respond).

Bearing in mind all of the above indicators of improved process efficiency it is somewhat surprising to learn, and difficult to account for, the fact that the number of requests not completed within 20 days has, in fact, risen from 3.2% to 4.51% in 2009. If nothing else perhaps this should serve as a warning against any tendency towards complacency.

Overall, the figures for 2009 confirmed the findings from the previous survey. Despite continuing and rising level of interest in information held by institutions, the sector appears to be successfully responding to these increased demands through a combination of improved operational effectiveness, increased investment and growing experience to ensure that majority of institutions are well placed to cope with legislative information requests.

The results of previous surveys from 2005-2008 are still available.

For further information on the survey please contact Steve Bailey.