The Department of Health (DoH) has failed to offer people
seeking information the correct advice and assistance and has
delayed vital processes beyond a reasonable time frame, the ICO
said.
The ICO said in its formal reprimand, its Practice
Recommendation, that some of the problems are the result of not
enough staff being trained in how to deal with FOI requests.
"Whilst the Commissioner has no doubt that pockets of expertise
in the area of freedom of information exist within the Department,
he is concerned that current levels of resource may not support the
volume of requests and reviews received," said the Recommendation.
"He therefore recommends that the Department review existing levels
of resource for FOI and the deployment of that resource."
The ICO said that the DoH was taking too long to process
information requests and was not helping people to make their
requests as recommended by the Code of Practice of the FOI Act.
"The Department of Health has failed on numerous occasions to
offer appropriate advice and assistance to people making requests
under the Act and is delaying the conduct of internal reviews
beyond a reasonable timescale," said an ICO statement.
"Existing guidance highlights that public authorities should
conduct internal reviews within 20 working days (40 days in
exceptional circumstances) yet the Department took 90 days in one
case and 80 days in two other cases," it said.
The ICO also criticised the DoH for issuing "blanket exemptions"
from the requirement to publish, meaning that it said that whole
documents were outside the scope of the FOI Act.
The ICO's Practice Recommendation is based on the results of an
audit of 40 complained-about requests made to the DoH. It conducted
the audit because it had concerns about the DoH's practices after
it breached the Act several times in relation to a single
request.
A Practice Recommendation is a first step in the enforcement of
the FOI Act. A breach of the Recommendation could lead to a breach
of the Act itself, which could lead to the ICO issuing an
Enforcement Notice. A court can treat a breach of that notice as a
criminal offence.
The ICO is continuing its investigations into the DoH on issues
not directly covered by this Practice Recommendation, it said.
"Other complaints made to the Commissioner suggest that the
authority may be failing to meet the expected standards of good
practice in relation to records management," it said. "The
Commissioner is exploring these issues further."
