We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Alex Parsons please sign in and let everyone know.

Dear West Berkshire Council,

I would like to make an FOI request for the following pieces of information:

1. How many people are employed to deal with FOI?
2. What is the budget for administering FOI?
3. Do you use case management software for FOI? If so, which one?
4. Do you publish a disclosure log?

If not all information is available, please treat questions individually.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Parsons

Suzanne Kenchington,

1 Attachment

FoI/2018/689

 

Dear Mr Parsons,

 

Request for information: FoI statistics and administration

 

Thank you for your requests received 26^th June 2018.

 

Because these requests relate to similar information, they have been
aggregated under Regulation 5 of the Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, for the purposes
of calculating the applicability of the Section 12 (appropriate limit)
exemption, and will be treated as a single request.

 

A copy of your aggregated request is attached for your information.

 

We will seek to respond within twenty working days.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Access Compliance Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [1][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended
solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or
opinions expressed may not necessarily represent those of West Berkshire
Council. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must
neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to
anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this
e-mail in error. All communication sent to or from West Berkshire Council
may be subject to recording and or monitoring in accordance with UK
legislation, are subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 and may therefore be disclosed to a third party on request.

References

Visible links
1. blocked::mailto:[email address] mailto:[email address]
file:///tmp/blocked::mailto:[email address]

FoI/2018/689

 

Dear Mr Parsons,

 

Request for information: FoI statistics and administration

 

Please see below the Council’s response to your request for information.

 

You have asked;

 

1.     How many people are employed to deal with FOI?

 

The Council’s Freedom of Information process is managed by the Information
Management Team. The Information Management Team is made up of three
members of staff; the Information Access Compliance Officer (IACO) (1fte),
the Information Management Officer (IMO) (0.8fte) and the Principal
Policy Officer (PPO) (0.9fte).

 

The IACO is responsible for coordinating the Freedom of Information
process however, the IMO supports this process at times and during leave
cover.

 

Both of these posts report to the PPO, who is responsible for carrying out
FoI Internal Reviews and ICO Reviews.

 

2.     What is the budget for administering FOI?

 

There is no specific budget for administering the FoI process. The only
cost of administering this process is salary costs.

 

The IACO post, who spends 90% of their time on FoI duties, is on salary
grade G. The remaining 10% is spent on Corporate Complaints and Data
Protection activities.

The IMO post, who spends 5% of their time on FoI duties, is on salary
grade I. The remaining 95% is spent on Data Protection activities.

The Principle Policy Officer, who spends 40% of their time on FoI duties,
is on salary grade K. The remaining 60% is spent on Equalities and
Corporate Complaints.

 

Information on paygrades can be found on the Council’s website here;
[1]https://info.westberks.gov.uk/payroll

 

3.     Do you use case management software for FOI? If so, which one?

No, we use an Excel spreadsheet to monitor requests.

 

4.     Do you publish a disclosure log?

Yes, this can be viewed here;
[2]http://info.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?...

 

For 2017;

 

1.     What period do you record FOI statistics in? Financial
Year/Calendar Year/Other?

Calendar year.

 

2.     How many FOI requests have you received? (if this figure includes
EIR requests, please state)

1320. This figure includes EIR requests.

 

3. The number of requests where the information was granted?

Partial and full exemptions were applied to 129 of these requests.

 

3.     The number of requests where the information was entirely withheld
(no information provided)?

It is not possible to answer this question. This data is not recorded
separately for the years predating 2018.

 

4.     The number of requests where the information was partially withheld
(some, but not all information requested, provided)?

It is not possible to answer this question. This data is not recorded
separately for the years predating 2018.

 

5.     How many requests were completed inside the statutory deadline?

1152

 

6.     How many requests were appealed to internal review?

22

 

7.     How many decisions were upheld at internal review?

7 partially upheld

3 upheld

12 not upheld

 

8.     How many FOI decisions have been appealed to the ICO?

1

 

9.     How many decisions were upheld by the ICO?

1 partially upheld

 

11. How many vexatious requests were received?

7

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may ask
for an internal review. You should contact The FoI Reviewing Officer,
Strategic Support, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD, email
FoI[3]@westberks.gov.uk  if you wish to request a review. If you are not
content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Access Compliance Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [4][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended
solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or
opinions expressed may not necessarily represent those of West Berkshire
Council. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must
neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to
anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this
e-mail in error. All communication sent to or from West Berkshire Council
may be subject to recording and or monitoring in accordance with UK
legislation, are subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 and may therefore be disclosed to a third party on request.

References

Visible links
1. https://info.westberks.gov.uk/payroll
2. http://info.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. blocked::mailto:[email address] mailto:[email address]
file:///tmp/blocked::mailto:[email address]

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Alex Parsons please sign in and let everyone know.