Unpublished FOI requests

Summary

The requester asked for a 12-month breakdown of Freedom of Information requests received, refused, answered, and published by the Department of Infrastructure. The authority responded by providing a monthly statistical table covering the period from March 2017 to March 2018, detailing the counts for each category.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2018-03-28 and the response was issued on 2018-04-12.
• The data covers a 12-month period from March 2017 to March 2018.
• The response distinguishes between requests refused in full, partially refused, answered in full, and withdrawn.
• Reasons for non-publication include requests containing identifiable information, withdrawals, or conversion to business as usual.
• The Department of Infrastructure provided the data in an attached appendix rather than within the letter body.

Data Disclosed

• 2018-03-28
• 2018-04-12
• 27/3/17-27/3/18
• 7
• 14
• 5
• 8
• 9
• 16
• 12
• 11
• 3
• 4
• 2
• 1
• 6
• 0
• case_id: 384244

Original Request

For each of the last 12 months, how many Freedom of Information requests have been: (a) received (b) refused (c) answered (d) published on the government website The information I'm looking for is how many in total were refused for any reason, including exemptions in the act: so frivolous/vexatious/misdirected queries, responses involving personal/commercially sensitive/already available information, etc. The distinction I hope to make is how many were invalid and how many were valid and answered but not published on the FOI portal.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Co-ordinator Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: foi.doi@gov.im

Our ref: 384244 12 April 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 28 March 2018 and which states:

"For each of the last 12 months, how many Freedom of Information requests have been: (a) received (b) refused (c) answered (d) published on the government website The information I'm looking for is how many in total were refused for any reason, including exemptions in the act: so frivolous/vexatious/misdirected queries, responses involving personal/commercially sensitive/already available information, etc. The distinction I hope to make is how many were invalid and how many were valid and answered but not published on the FOI portal."

Our response to your request is attached as Appendix 1. To assist in understanding the figures, please note the following: • Responses are shown in the month received, although they may be answered in the month following. • Reasons for practical refusals may include: clarification not received; invalid format (often resubmitted); duplicate of request already sent by that requester etc. • Where refusal is on the grounds of being vexatious or burdensome, one response may cover multiple requests • Reasons for non-publication may include: where the request contains sufficient information to identify the requester; withdrawn (requester’s choice); converted to business as usual; wrong department etc

Please quote the reference number 384244 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post to us at
Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Co-ordinator Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: foi.doi@gov.im

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team APPENDIX 1 from 27/3/17-27/3/18 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18 Requests received 7 14 5 8 9 9 9 16 12 7 8 11 11 Refused in full 3 4 0 0 7 1 3 1 2 2 2 5 5 Part refused/part answered 3 2 1 6 0 3 2 8 4 3 2 3 1 Answered in full 1 6 2 1 0 3 0 3 2 1 1 1 1 withdrawn 0 2 2 1 2 2 4 4 4 1 3 2 1 published 6 12 3 7 5 7 4 12 6 6 4 8 9