Information Commissioner to get tough over FoI delays

The UK's data watchdog is to step up enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act

Thomas: we must be considerably tougher

Public sector IT directors are to face more pressure to ensure their data and records management systems are up to date after the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, said he will be more aggressive with bodies who are slow to comply with Freedom of Information (FoI) requests.

His comments were revealed in a Constitutional Affairs Select Committee report on the FoI released this week, which quoted Thomas as claiming he was ready to get tougher.

“We saw the first year as a learning year for ourselves as an organisation and also for public bodies generally and we tried to be reasonably tolerant, reasonably non-confrontational trying to help public authorities get it right,” he said in his evidence to the Select Committee. “We have resolved that we must be considerably tougher in some respects as we go into the second and third year.”

The committee welcomed the commitment to force public sector bodies to process requests faster, but warned digital records management systems and processes must be improved to ensure agencies can comply better with requests.

“The National Archives has told us about the impressive range of guidance documents which it has issued but the evidence suggests that records management practices in some public authorities need substantial improvement,” the report concluded. “More proactive leadership and progress management of departments’ records management systems is required.”