Freedom of Information: The FCO's First
Year
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) went live
on 1 January 2005. The Department of Constitutional Affairs' report
(available at http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/imprep/annrep05.pdf) on
the first year of operation of FOI in central government was published
in late May 2006 and provides a detailed, comparative statistical
analysis of the FCO's performance. The following is a summary
of what the FCO has achieved.
VOLUME
19,700 FOI requests were received across Whitehall
in 2005. Of these, the FCO received 1,315, generating 80 requests
for internal review (IR) of our decisions, and 17 complaints from
the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The table below shows
the breakdown for the FCO of each by quarter, together with the
1st quarter 2006 figures for comparison.
A challenging first quarter (44% of the total
requests in 2005) was followed by a marked drop in new requests
in the second half of the year. Numbers have risen sharply again
in 2006. The trend has been broadly reflected across government.
Alongside FOI we are also dealing with a significant
rise in requests under:
— The Data Protection Act (DPA): 2005—67
including a major case about two former Guantanamo Bay detainees;
2004—6.
— The Environmental Impact Regulations
(EIR): 2005—10; 2004—0.
PERFORMANCE
Performance in meeting permitted deadlines ended
the year on 93% following a progressive improvement. The following
table compares the FCO quarterly performance with the Whitehall
average.
TYPES OF
APPLICANT
Largest groups in descending order are:
— professional FOI requestors (several
internet-based companies provide fee-paying services to lodge
and follow up FOI requests).
Many Whitehall Departments have received repeated
requests, and vexatious requests, during the first year of FOI
and these are being responded to robustly in line with ICO guidance.
The FCO has had three such requestors, one of which accounted
for 5% of all requests.
TYPES OF
REQUEST
Iraq and the EU were the most popular topics
in the first quarter, but have since declined. FCO management
issues currently account for around 25% of requests and have a
high release rate. Requests for older material (1975-80s) also
run at about 25%. Otherwise there is no discernible trend. Compared
to other Government Departments the FCO receives few frivolous
requests and none simple enough to be answered substantively within
a few days, except where we hold no information or the request
exceeds the cost limit. No directorate stands out as particularly
hard-hit.
RESPONSES
The following chart shows how the FCO responded
to requests.
The FCO response rate for full or partial disclosure
stands at 56% of total requests [70% of resolvable requests].
The equivalent Whitehall figure is 60% [75% of resolvable requests].
The FCO's lower disclosure rate reflects the more sensitive nature
of much of the information we hold.
PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE
In May 2005 the FCO became the first Department
to launch a dedicated website for FOI disclosures, regarded across
Whitehall as a model of best practice. 211 items have been published
on the website, representing more than 500 pages of information
which range from the shooting of Bob Marley in 1976 to information
relating to Iraq's use of chemical weapons.
USE OF
EXEMPTIONS
The following table gives details of the exemptions
used by the FCO in 2005. Unsurprisingly s27 (international relations)
was the most-used exemption.
| S(27)—International relations.
| 195 |
| S(35)—Formulation of government policy, etc.
| 156 |
| S(40)—Personal information. | 78
|
| S(23)—Information supplied by, or relating to, security bodies.
| 73 |
| S(36)—Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs.
| 71 |
| S(42)—Legal professional privilege. |
42 |
| S(24)—National security. | 37
|
| S(31)—Law enforcement. | 16
|
| S(43)—Commercial interests. | 16
|
| S(41)—Information provided in confidence.
| 14 |
| S(22)—Information intended for future publication.
| 10 |
| S(38)—Health and safety. | 8
|
| S(26)—Defence. | 3 |
| S(28)—Relations within the United Kingdom.
| 3 |
| S(32)—Court records, etc. | 1
|
| S(37)—Communications with Her Majesty, etc and honours.
| 1 |
| S(44)—Prohibitions on disclosure. |
1 |
Information Management Group
June 2006
| |
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