Ministers approve FOI answers
To what extent are government ministers personally engaged in overseeing responses to freedom of information requests?
Some light has now been shed on this question thanks to a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office internal report inadvertently sent to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. And the evidence it contains suggests that many ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office FOI replies may involve ministerial approval, except for those where the requester is simply told that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office doesn't actually possess the information wanted.
This ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office document was sent in error by an official to a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ East Midlands journalist, Alistair Jackson. (I have redacted the names of some private individuals).
It itemises a batch of FOI requests to be answered by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office, dividing them into those that need to be seen by a minister before the reply is sent and those that don't. As far as this group of 15 FOI questions is concerned, the only ones excluded from direct ministerial oversight are the five where the intended response is that the information is not held. Any answer involving the actual supply of information, or the refusal to provide material held, required ministerial approval.
In each case it is also noted whether the FOI request comes from the press, and (for those going to ministers), the 'level of controversy' is assessed. The most controversial one in this list concerns executive bonuses at the Criminal Records Bureau.
A ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office spokesman told the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½: 'They are sent for a Minister to note them before a response is sent. This is so that Ministers are aware of information that is being released into the public domain.'
This high level of ministerial involvement has implications for the amount of civil service resources devoted to FOI, as it increases the time spent on it by senior officials and those in ministerial private offices. It also risks causing delays.
An internal ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office email accompanying the document also reveals that the Permanent Secretary has set a 90% performance target for replying within the statutory 20-day deadline.
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office spokesman said: 'The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office is committed to responding to FOI requests within the timescales set by the Act but the complexity of our cases means that this will not always be possible. We have therefore set an internal target of 90 per cent which is achievable and challenging. Our performance has considerably improved (from 45% in 2005 to nearly 90% this year) since the Act came into force and we intend to make further progress.'
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