JISC

Effective date: 01 January 2009
Review date: 01 January 2010

Overview

From 1 January 2005 any member of the public has the right to have access to all types of information held by JISC. In most cases we must answer the requests we receive within 20 working days. Requests must be in writing (including email) in order to be covered by the Act but do not need to mention the Act or be phrased in any particular way. There are exemptions which allow us to withhold some types of information, but these must only be applied in very specific circumstances.

We do not have to provide information which would take us longer than 18 hours to identify and collate (this is calculated on the maximum charge of £450 at £25 per hour), the ICO advises that time taken to redact information should not be included in the fees calculation.

Recognising a request

Given the broad definition of what constitutes a request under the Act it is safest to assume that any request for information held by JISC that we receive must be treated in accordance with the Act – providing it has the following characteristics:

• It has been received in writing (including email and fax)
• It is asking for information held by JISC (note: not just created by)
• It provides sufficient details to enable us to identify the information requested
• It has an address to respond to (email or postal)

What should you do next?

The important thing is to act promptly – the 20 day clock is ticking from the day you receive the request.

Many of the requests we receive can be considered ‘routine’ and can be answered as usual in as prompt and helpful a manner as possible. These will be requests where you have all of the information asked for and can see no reason why you should not provide access to it.

Examples of routine requests

Can I have a copy of the agenda for next weeks town meeting?

Can I have a copy of the ITT for the evaluation project?

I would like a copy of your briefing paper on records management

Often the information asked for during such routine requests is already available via our website or through other publications. It is permissible under the Act to refer requestors to these existing sources.

Escalating requests

There will be times when you receive requests which cannot be considered routine. This may because either:

1. You do not have all of the information requested

2. You have some reservation about whether you should provide the information requested

Possible causes for concern

The information requested could be considered sensitive or confidential in some way

The information requested is personal data – either about the requestor or another

You suspect there may be reasons why an exemption to disclosure could apply

They have requested a large volume of information

If any of the above factors apply you should not answer the request yourself but should escalate it as soon as possible to the Committee Secretary responsible for that area of work.

When escalating requests you should:

1. Speak directly to the relevant Committee Secretary to explain the request and its circumstances

2. After clarification with the Committee Secretary it may be that you are able to respond directly to the requestor with a response. Ensure you have the approval of the Committee Secretary before doing so

3. Alternatively, the request will be transferred to the Committee Secretary for further investigation. They will now be the person responsible for ensuring the completion of the request

What happens next

For any request transferred to the Committee Secretaries the details of the request and requestor will be logged centrally.

If the Committee Secretary has the information required to answer the request and feels comfortable providing it they will respond to the requestor accordingly and complete the request.

If the Committee Secretary either doesn’t have all the information required to answer the request or is at all uncertain as to whether they should provide the information asked for they will contact the JISC FOI Officer as soon as possible for further clarification

Exemptions

Under the Act there are 23 exemptions to the general right of access to information. Most of these will not be relevant to the work of JISC. Of those that are, many are qualified exemptions meaning that JISC may still need to provide access to the information concerned if it is considered to be in the public’s interest to do so.

It will be up to the JISC FOI Officer and the Head of Policy & Corporate Services to interpret the exemptions and decide if and when they apply to requests received.

If you are ever in a position where you think an exemption may apply seek advice from your FOI Officer.

Where JISC does seek to apply an exemption we will provide an amended version of the information in question indicating to the requestor where information has been withheld and specifying what exemption we are relying upon.

Right of appeal

Requestors have the right to appeal against decisions made by JISC to withhold information. Further information about the appeals process is available from the JISC: FOI appeals policy

Further information

If you require any further guidance about dealing with requests or any other aspect of the Freedom of Information Act please contact foi@jisc.ac.uk