Freedom of Information Annual Report 2010/11

The Commissioner's approach to practice assessments is to help the authority identify its own good practice, and work closely with the authority to help them develop practical solutions so problems can be quickly resolved.

Sharing good practice	Avoiding poor practice
With 26 assessments completed by the end of 2010/11, a picture of what good practice looks like is emerging.	The assessment programme has highlighted some areas of underperformance which can be easily avoided.
Organisational culture – a culture of openness prevails across the whole organisation, with senior members of the organisation committed to FOI	Poor staff awareness – failure to ensure staff are aware of their individual FOI obligations
Internal systems – robust FOI monitoring and logging systems allow consistency in FOI responses and monitoring of internal performance.	Inadequate knowledge of FOISA and most notably the EIRs across the organisation – can lead to e.g. failure to recognise information requests
Organisational structure and processes – an established structure to deal with FOI, and a robust and independent review procedure.	Lack of robust request handling systems - can lead to e.g. failure to respond to requests within the required timescale
Knowledge – organisation-wide minimum level of knowledge of FOI, rolling training programmes and a willingness to continually improve.	Out of date procedures – failure to update when organisational circumstances change
Communications – Effective internal communications, and a willingness to assist requesters as far as reasonably possible in order to provide them with the information they want.	Inadequate notification - failure to advise requesters of their rights to review and appeal
	Inadequate searches for information held – can be linked to records management deficiencies
	Insufficient staff cover – delays can occur when key FOI staff are out of the office
	Poor performance monitoring – failure to identify and resolve areas of concern

 

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