Freedom of Information Statistics at the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FOI 22-22

12 April 2022

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”)

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 29 March 2022 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

“1. For the period 16th March – 17th July 2020 (i.e., when ICO had indicated a sympathetic approach to delay), provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt by your organisation?  

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?  

(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt by your organisation?

(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?

Of the 20 Freedom of Information requests received during the timeframe above, the Assembly Commission issued 11 responses to requesters within 20 working days of receipt.

6 requests issued after the 20 working days but within 60 working days.

3 requests were withdrawn.

There was 1 Internal Review request and it was answered within 20 working days.

2. For the period 18th July – 8th October 2020 (i.e., during the ‘preparing for recovery’ phase), provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt by your organisation?  

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 20 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review?  

(c) how many responses to FOI requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt by your organisation?

(d) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued within 21 and 60 working days of receipt of the request for an internal review

Of the 4 Freedom of Information requests received during the timeframe above, the Assembly Commission issued 1 response within 20 working days of receipt.

2 further responses were issued within 60 working days of receipt.

1 request was withdrawn.

There was 1 Internal Review request and it was answered within 20 working days.

3. During the period 1st March to 30th October 2020, provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%, for these questions:

(a) how many responses to FOI requests were issued more than 60 working days after receipt of the request?

(b) how many responses to FOI review requests were issued more than 60 working days after receipt of a request for an internal review?  

There were 30 Freedom of Information requests made during the timeframe above.

0 requests issued more than 60 working days after receipt.

5 requests were withdrawn.

There were 5 requests for Internal Reviews during the above timeframe and all 5 issued within 60 working days.

4. When FOI request or review responses were issued more than 21 working days after receipt during the period 1st March and 30th October 2020, what were the main reasons for the delay? e.g., closure of premises due to Covid-19, reallocation of resources due to Covid-19, staff shortages due to Covid-19, absence of key staff due to Covid-19, limited access to necessary systems due to Covid-19, other issue related/unrelated to Covid19.

The Assembly Commission does not retain a record of the reasoning for any Freedom of Information request that may have been delayed and issued beyond 21 working days. Furthermore, under the FOIA 2000 we are not required to create a dataset for the purpose of an FOI request. 

5. In relation to the FOI requests received by your organisation between 1st March and 30th October 2020, what proportion related directly to Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or impact of the pandemic on your organisation? (Provide precise data if available e.g., 15 out of 30 requests, and if not, provide an estimate e.g., 10%)

5 of the 30 Freedom of Information requests received during this timeframe were directly related to Covid 19 (FOI 23-20, 25-20, 37-20, 46-20 and 48-20) and are available to view on the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission Disclosure Log.

6. On 17th July 2020 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a self-assessment Freedom of Information toolkit (FOI self-assessment toolkit | ICO) to help public authorities respond to FOI requests as they prepared to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

- Does, or has your organisation ever, use/d the toolkit? If so, please explain whether it has it had any positive outcomes. 

- If your organisation has not/does not make use of the toolkit, please explain why not.

This information is not held by the Assembly Commission.

7. In response to Covid19, has the volume of information your organisation publishes:

- not changed

- significantly increased

- significantly decreased

- don’t know

This information is not held by the Assembly Commission.

8. Has your organisation taken steps to proactively publish information relating to Covid-19, your organisation's Covid-19 response or the impact of the pandemic on your organisation?  If it includes a dedicated webpage, please provide a link to the webpage.”

The Assembly Commission has published 50 research papers and blog articles so far in response to COVID-19. A dedicated webpage for these publications can be found here. The Assembly Commission has also maintained data dashboards on The impact of COVID-19 on Northern Ireland,  A snapshot of COVID-19 funding and a Visualisation of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland.

You have the right to request a formal review by the Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address. If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.

The Assembly Commission may publish details of your FOI request and our official response within the organisational disclosure log. The request will be completely anonymised and you will not be identified in any way. This is to meet the requirements as laid out by in the agreed publication scheme with the Information Commissioners’ Office.

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS