Issue - meetings

To advise members in respect to the Council’s activity and compliance with Data Protection, Environmental Information Regulation and Freedom of Information requirements (report of the Assistant Director – Governance (Monitoring Officer) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Governance (Monitoring Officer) which advised members in respect of the Council’s activity and compliance with Data Protection, Environmental Information Regulation and Freedom of Information requirements.

The Group Information Manager and Deputy Data Protection Officer introduced the report and the following points were highlighted:

• The report provided an annual update for the period October 2023 to October 2024;
• There had been an increase in the use of information regulation to obtain information by social action groups such as Centre Point, The Dogs Trust, and The Tax Payers Alliance, as well as media organisations;
• 630 requests had been made during the period which represented a 3% increase on the previous year;
• A total of 63 requests had a form of exemption applied. Exemptions to disclosure were only applied where necessary following a public interest test;
• 24 refusals to process a request under the regulation were due to the requested information already being publicly available elsewhere;
• The council’s responses exceeded the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) ‘adequate’ target of 90% throughout the period of the report, and in the following months had subsequently exceeded the ICO’s ‘good’ target of 95%; and
• 33 data incidents had been reported since October 2024.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members referred to point 2.1.8 of the report which summarised the number of FOI requests validated within statutory deadlines, and queried the reason for a lower performance from October to December 2023.
  • The Group Information Manager and Deputy Data Protection Officer responded that the lower performance had resulted from capacity issues within the team however an intervention from January 2024 had resolved the issue.

AGREED:

That the Information Governance annual update be noted.