Requests for Information
- If an information request is left on my voice-mail, do I have to treat it as a valid request under FOISA or the EIRs?
- I worry about information requests e-mailed to me while I am on holiday. What should I do?
- FOISA says that a request must contain a name and address. What if I only have the e-mail address of the applicant and not the home address?
- Do I have to deal with a request which comes in from someone who has obviously given me a false name, such as Mickey Mouse?
- I subscribe to an e-mail discussion group. Will requests for information made to the discussion group be valid information requests?
- A member of staff has made a request for information and says that it is a freedom of information request. Is this the case?
If an information request is left on my voice-mail, do I have to treat it as a valid request under FOISA or the EIRs?
A request for environmental information may be made in any form (including spoken). Therefore, all voice-mail requests which include a method of contacting the requestor should be dealt with as a valid request.
The issue of whether a voice-mail request should be considered as valid under FOISA will largely depend on the capabilities of the voice-mail system used by the authority receiving the request. If the system allows for voice-mail records to be permanently stored and subsequently referred to and the requestor includes a name and an address for correspondence, then the request should be considered as valid. However, if the system does not have this functionality (e.g. if the system automatically deletes records after a period of time and there is no way to transfer them onto other systems for storage) then the request should not generally be considered valid under FOISA . However, under the duty to provide advice and assistance, the authority should try to contact the requestor to advise them to submit their request in writing, or in another recordable format.
I worry about information requests e-mailed to me while I am on holiday. What should I do?
FOISA says that where a request for information is made by e-mail, it is presumed to have been received by the authority the same day (section 74(2)(b)). This means that the 20 working days "clock" will start counting down from the day after receipt, whether you are in the office to read it or not. If you are out of the office for any length of time, you should make arrangements to make sure that any requests which you receive can be dealt with within the time limits. For example, you could give a colleague access to your e-mail inbox or auto-forward your messages to ensure that any information requests are identified and dealt with. You could also consider setting up an automatic "out of office" reply telling people that you are away and giving an alternative contact point for any requests for information. Whatever procedures you put in place, the request must still be dealt with within 20 working days of receipt.
FOISA says that a request must contain a name and address. What if I only have the e-mail address of the applicant and not the home address?
FOISA states that a request must include an address for correspondence. The Commissioner has confirmed that an e-mail address is sufficient. However, where an email address is used, the applicant must also give their name in the body of the email to fulfil the requirement that the name of the applicant is given.
Do I have to deal with a request which comes in from someone who has obviously given me a false name, such as Mickey Mouse?
FOISA states that an information request must include the name of the applicant. This must be the real name of the applicant. So, if a request comes in from someone who has obviously given a false name, the application is invalid and the public authority does not have to deal with it. However, FOISA does not allow public authorities to enquire into the circumstances of the applicant or to ask for information in order to verify identities. As a result, unless you know for sure that the applicant has used a pseudonym, it will be difficult to refuse to deal with an information request on that ground.
A better starting point is the assumption built into FOISA that public authorities must generally discount the identity and circumstances of the applicant and must regard any release of information as if it were a release to the world at large. This approach recognises that applicants cannot gain any advantage by using a pseudonym.
You should also remember your duty to provide advice and assistance to an applicant under section 15 of FOISA. So, if it is obvious that a pseudonym has been used, you should tell the applicant that if they make the request under their own name then you will deal with the request. It may be that the applicant has particular reasons for not revealing their identity but rather than using a false name it is open to them to ask a friend or relative to make the request instead.
I subscribe to an e-mail discussion group. Will requests for information made to the discussion group be valid information requests?
The Commissioner takes the view that an email to a discussion group could be a request for information - provided that the email request is received by a public authority. However, such a request would be very difficult to enforce. Members of a discussion group/forum may simply informally agree not to follow up these requests under the Act.
It is also recognised that many of the requests on discussion forums are for expressions of opinion rather than for information.
Failure to respond to a request for information is something that the Ombudsman has been able to take action on for many years, but there are no known cases.
If an employee of a public authority accesses the list from their private home email account, then that will not constitute a request to a public authority.
A member of staff has made a request for information and says that it is a freedom of information request. Is this the case?
It would depend what information is being asked for. Access to personal data is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. However, if the request is for recorded information held by the public authority then it should be considered under the terms of FOISA.
It makes no difference whether the person making the request is an employee of the authority or not. The Act gives a general entitlement to receive information held by a Scottish public authority.