Caerphilly county borough council has seen a sharp increase in the number of Freedom Of Information (FOI) and other data requests received over recent years.
A newly published report highlights the steep rise in the number of requests submitted to the council since the FOI legislation was introduced in 2005. Overall there has been a 119% increase in the number of requests received by the authority since 2005 and a 21% increase in the last year alone.
“Caerphilly county borough council is keen to ensure that we are open and transparent in everything we do,” said Cllr Colin Mann, deputy leader of council. “We strive at all times to answer these requests as fully as possible. If there is information that we cannot provide, the reasons are always fully explained to the requester.”
Requests for information are covered by a number of laws, such as Freedom of Information (FOI), Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and Subject Access Request (SARs) made under the Data Protection Act, but the applicant does not have to cite the law that covers their request.
“Last year over 860 of these requests were processed by the council. This obviously places a significant demand on our resources as many of the requests are quite in-depth and require a significant amount of work to provide all the information. That said, we will continue to deal with these requests in an effective and efficient manner so that the public can be confident in the way we do business,” added Cllr Mann.
During 2010 the council fully answered 506 requests (75%) and legally refused 135 requests (20%). The remaining requests were open and ongoing at the time of collating the information.
For more information visit www.caerphilly.gov.uk/foi
