Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Service Manager for Assurance and Data Protection Officer.

The Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee considered a performance update at the meeting on 30 July 2024 which highlighted a number of red indicators relating to Council performance in responding to Freedom of Information requests in line with statutory deadlines.

The discussion covered several key areas including diving into existing barriers and issues that contributed to the non-compliance. These included:

·       the size and structure of the Compliance Team and it was indicated that recruitment was underway to help meet the demands on the service. Noting the workload to reach compliance, consideration was raised to ensure the well-being of the team.

·       the use of automation and the potential to explore further opportunities to use it more to save time and create efficiencies in relation to cost versus benefit.

·       the need for further understanding of the issues and challenges across the directorates in terms of their compliance with Freedom of Information requests with focus on areas with a single point of contact

·       there was a discussion on the completion rates of mandatory training and the impact on officers practices.

·       a discussion around the source of the 80-day late benchmark used in the report and a request to consider the reporting metrics and how performance compared with other councils.

The discussions acknowledged the complexity of the situation and the difficulties that led to those cases where the council was non-compliant.

The Chair noted that the issues were understood and that there was a plan in place moving forward. Further information was to be gathered in relation to cross organisational barriers and consideration given to the ways that metrics were reported. The Chair requested that a briefing note be provided to committee members ahead of each meeting to provide an update to show the trend over time towards compliance.