Public rights of access to information

Grisilda Ponniah, Corporate Information Governance Manager

Mary Elliott, FOI Officer

Legal & Democratic Services

Information & Governance Team

C la re M a ckayL e g a l S up p o rt S en io r A ss is ta n t

0 20 85 41 9 568

K e n C a rm ich a e l(S e co n de d)

R e cord s M a na g e m e nt

M a ry E llio ttF re ed o m o f In fo rm a tion O ffice r

0 20 85 41 7 969

H e le n G ilb e rtC o m m o n s R e g is tra tio n O ffice r

0 20 85 41 8 935

G ris ilda P on n iahC o rpo ra te In fo rm a tion G o vern a nce M a na g er

(D a ta P ro te ctio n O ffice r)0 20 85 41 9 915

Contents

• Reminder of Legislation• FOI/EIR• Example of FOI (DP issues)• Statistics• DPA

Legislationo Freedom of Information Act 2000 –right of access to

information held by a public body – respond within 20 working days. Code of practice on records management

o Environmental Information Regulations 2004 –right of access to environmental information – respond within 20 working days (or 40 working days in certain cases)

o Data Protection Act 1998 –right of access to your own personal information – respond within 40 calendar days

o Other – o Local Government Act 1972 o Audit Commission Act 1998 – 20 working days window once a

year to come in inspect and copy background documents (can include Contracts) to Accounts

o Veolia Case (Waste Contract) 5 July 2010

Access under FOI/EIR

Transparency Agenda

• Dr Povey has stated the Council’s commitment to openness and transparency demonstrated by• Introduction of webcasting• Publishing of spend data over £5,000 • Publishing of details of contracts over £50,000

o Confirm/deny if information is held

o Respond and supply within legal timescales unless:• Not held• Vexatious/repeated• Exceeds cost limit (18 hours work) (NB does

not apply to environmental information)• Exemption applies

Our duties under FOI/EIR

Applying the FOI exemption for third party personal data: the Tribunal’s approach in House of Commons v IC & Leapman, Brooke and Thomas upheld in the High Court

To comply with the DPA, a disclosure of personal data under the FOIA must:

• be fair and lawful;

• meet one of the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA;

• in the case of sensitive information (such as information about health or criminal activity) also meet one of the conditions in Schedule 3; and,

• take into account the reasonable expectations of the individual.

Relevant Schedule 2 Condition

The Schedule 2 condition most likely to be relevant is that at paragraph 6: “The processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed except where the processing is unwarranted in any particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the data subject”.

The ApproachIn considering the application of this condition to a disclosure under the FOIA, the Tribunal applied a three-stage test:

• Is there a legitimate public interest in disclosure?

• Is the disclosure necessary for that legitimate public interest?

• Is the disclosure nevertheless unwarranted because of an excessive or disproportionate adverse effect on the legitimate interests of the individual(s) concerned?

Volume of requestsTotal Requests

538

805921

11491359

0200400600800

1000120014001600

2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010

Financial Year

No

Req

ues

ts

Volume of requestsRequests for information - month by month breakdown

020406080

100120140160180

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

How we dealt with Requests

4% 4%

14%

78%

Information not held

Refused in full

Refused in part

Requests answered

Breakdown of Refusals

19%

1%

11%

7%

8%1%5%

32%

9%5% 2%

Exceed fees

Repeated/vexatious

Info already accessible

Law Enforcement

Court Records

Prejudice public affairs

Health & Safety

Personal Information

Confidential Info

Commercial Interests

Other exemptions

Who is asking for information

2% 8%4%

13%

2%

3%65%

3%Academic

Business

Campaign/charity

Journalist

Lawyer/legal advisor

Politician

Private individual

Public sector employee

What are they asking aboutMost popular topics recently• Potholes • Information about deceased personsOther • Senior manager pay and training• Council TaxMore unusual• Meetings with Pagan Groups• Complaints about ghosts• Feng Shui training

Any Questions?

Access under DP Act

(Subject Access Requests)

What is Personal Data?

o “Personal Data” - any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual (data subject)

o An identifiable person – a person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity

Notification to ICOo ICO is regulator – requires notificationo Various roles as an elected member:

o member of the council - eg member of a committee – SCC notifies

o representative of residents of your ward - eg dealing with complaints – SCC notifies

o representative of a political party - particularly at election time – party notifies

o Description of the processing activities is placed on a public register of notifications

o You must comply with data protection principles - framework for the proper handling of personal information

8 Principles of ‘Good Information Handling’

1. Fairly and lawfully processed 2. Processed for limited purposes 3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive 4. Accurate and up to date 5. Not kept for longer than is necessary 6. Processed in line with your rights 7. Secure 8. Not transferred to other countries without

adequate protection

Points to remembero Ensure language used in any recorded information is

appropriate as it could be made available on requesto Date stamp all written requests for information as

soon as received and pass non routine ones immediately to our team

o It is a criminal offence to conceal, damage or destroy records after they have been requested

o No exemption for embarrassmento You need to manage your records

Any Questions?

Contact Details• External website – under F for Freedom of Information in the A-

Z and D for Data Protection (online forms available to make requests)

• Email xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

• Room 134 County Hall

• Mary Elliott (Freedom of Information Officer)• 020 8541 7969

• Grisilda Ponniah (Corporate Information Governance Manager)• 020 8541 9915