Surrey Police 'failed to prioritise transparency' in warning given over FOI backlog
Surrey Police has been hit with an enforcement notice after failing to address a severe backlog in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, with the oldest request dating back more than two years—far exceeding the typical 20-day response time.
The notice, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is in response to a significant and worsening backlog - there is a compliance rate of just 54%—far below the expected standards and a sharp decline from the 69% compliance rate in the same period last year.
A spokesperson for Surrey Police said the force accepts they fell short, but that staffing issues was a key factor in their falling compliance.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 2000 gives the public the right to access information held by public authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It mandates public bodies, including police forces, to respond to FOI requests within 20 working days. Anyone can submit an FOI request.
Phillip Angell, Head of Freedom of Information Casework at the ICO, said, "Timely responses to Freedom of Information requests are essential for maintaining transparency and trust in public bodies like police forces. The failure of Surrey Police to meet even the basic requirements of the Freedom of Information Act is entirely unacceptable."
"A worsening backlog, with requests as old as two years, shows a lack of seriousness about their obligations and a failure to prioritise transparency. This cannot continue: the public deserves better, and we have issued this enforcement notice to ensure that they get it."
The enforcement notice demands that Surrey Police submit an action plan within 30 days, detailing specific steps to clear the backlog and bring their FOI responses back into compliance with the law. Failure to comply could result in the force being held in contempt of court.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Gardner said: "We take our obligations in processing FOI requests seriously and fully accept that our service levels have fallen below expected standards.
“This year we had an exceptionally high turnover of staff within Information Management, resulting in a large proportion of the team being new in post. This has had an impact on our compliance rate - which we submit monthly to the ICO - and we are working to reduce this backlog as quickly as possible.
“We recognised that our service levels were not good enough and this was raised as a Force risk in May and an action plan was put in place to address this.
“Whilst recruitment and training of new staff has been underway, priority was given to Rights of Access and Court Order requests which have continued to be processed within the statutory timeframes.
“The public absolutely have a right to transparency of information under FOI and we are working hard to ensure our performance in this area returns to the standards they expect from us.”
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