Your right to ‘no’! Town Hall rapped over Freedom of Information delays

Hackney Council is being monitored over FoI delays. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

Hackney Council is being monitored by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over slow Freedom of Information response times.

The ICO says it has received “a significant number of complaints” about the Town Hall’s apparently tardy response times.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, a public authority must respond to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request within 20 working days.

The ICO says it is also keeping an eye on the Cabinet Office and Crown Prosecution Service for a three month period.

Transparent and open?

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: “Responding to FoI requests within the statutory time limit of 20 working days is basic to delivering transparent and open government.

“While extensions may sometimes be justifiable for particularly complex requests, these three authorities have been selected for monitoring after serious shortcomings were identified in the time each of them has been taking to respond to FoI requests.”

‘Aware of delays’

Ian Williams, Hackney Council’s Director of Finance and Resources, said: “We are aware of delays in responding to FoI requests and launched our own review of the service in November 2013.

“New measures have since been put in place which will enable us to process requests in a more timely manner.

“We trust the Information Commissioner’s Office will note this improvement during the monitoring period.”