FOI boss fights for resources

(CNS): With a lack of resources and no staff, the new information commissioner says she has been struggling against bureaucracy and brick walls since taking up the post in January. She is also concerned that some public authorities are dragging their heels over internal reviews on Freedom of Information requests that have been initially denied. This, together with the office’s resource problems, means that the public are likely to experience delays with FOI appeals, Jennifer Dilbert has said.

If an applicant is not satisfied with the decision the information manager made in response to their FOI request, they can ask for an internal review where a more senior member of the staff of the public authority will consider the request.  If the applicant is still not satisfied, then that is when they can make an appeal to the information commissioner.

“I am very concerned that the initial application process with public authorities is already taking too long, and mindful that delays in the appeal process will further prevent the public’s requests being responded to in a reasonable timeframe,” Dilbert sai.

She added that her office has been under-resourced from the outset and is struggling to cope with the number of appeals being received. There are currently 21 requests under appeal, some of which have already been delayed by the relevant government authority but may now face further delays, Dilbert explained.

The government’s Implementation Plan for the Freedom of Information Law called for a commissioner to be in place 6 months before the law came into effect.  However, Dilbert was not appointed as commissioner until 5 January.

Dilbert stated that the Cabinet Office did assist with making some arrangements when she arrived but there was no office accommodation, supplies, equipment, or staff.

“These first six months have been very stressful and very frustrating,” Dilbert said. “Specifically, I have been subject to much government bureaucracy, especially relating to staffing, and the independence of my office has not been established.”

Although coming up against what she described as “a brick wall at almost every turn”,  Dilbert said she has now put together a small team consisting of an office manger, who joined her in March, and a deputy, appointed in mid-April, and has moved into an office space in Elizabethan Square.  “Approval for two further members of staff was finally given on Friday 19 June, after a long struggle against the government’s hiring moratorium being applied to this new office,” Dilbert added.

She explained that, while the posts have been advertised and interviews are taking place this week, it will take several months for the office to be adequately resourced with trained staff.  While trying to put in place the policies and procedures necessary to conduct fair appeals, the commissioner said some of the appeals she is dealing with are quite involved and complex. 

“Seven of these appeals have been received this month alone, as cases work through the system,” Dilbert noted, explaining that a lot of the appeals are dealt with through arbitration and mediation before she has to take all the material involved and make her ruling in a written decision.

She said statistics show that a majority of the requests for records were being well handled by the information managers.  Another encouraging trend was that in several instances where requests for records has highlighted inefficiencies or lack of systems in some authorities, the relevant authorities had accepted these problems and were making efforts to correct them.

“This is one of the benefits of Freedom of Information,” Dilbert noted, but added that it would take some time for the process to yield long term improvements and asked the public to be patient. 

She also encouraged the public to continue to seek the information they require. In the future, she will be looking into ways to make the process of requesting and accessing information as easy as possible for the general public. 

“I invite the public to visit our new website www.infocomm.ky where you can find our Policies and Procedures as well as links for application forms and other helpful resources. In time, my office will be providing comprehensive ongoing public awareness and training programmes to ensure that FOI is made accessible to all in these Islands.” 

Dilbert heads the independent Information Commissioner’s Office and her powers under the Freedom of Information Law are to hear, investigate and rule on appeals filed under the law, and to monitor compliance with the law. In her early months Dilbert said she has been supported by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in British Columbia, which has provided her with an advisor for three months, and a registrar of hearings for a two week period, and Dilbert said she was very grateful to BC Commissioner David Loukidelis, who has provided support to both her and her deputy in terms of training,information and personnel.