Sheffield Council working to improve Freedom of Information service following years of delays

By law, the council should respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests within 20 working days and if it fails, complaints can be raised with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Council reports showed the authority failed to meet deadlines in recent years as it battled a backlog and struggled to keep up with demand.

Council leader Tom Hunt confirmed the authority was reviewing its system and process for responding to FOIs and subject access requests in a full council meeting last week.

He said: “I am fully focussed on improving the council’s performance to make sure we can be the best council we can be.

“A full review of our system and process for responding to FOIs and subject access requests is under way. This includes looking at the underpinning IT systems that are being used to track them. We will continue to record our performance and report that to the audit committee.”

Since then, a report was published detailing changes in the service which will be discussed at an audit and standards committee meeting on October 19.

It followed a review by the ICO in May.

The ICO’s overall opinion was that there was a “reasonable level of assurance” that processes and procedures were in place to deliver FOI compliance and made 13 recommendations.

These included being better prepared for spikes in demand to avoid future backlogs, proactively publishing more information to reduce demand and ensuring internal reviews are formally logged and improving its procedure to ensure the outcomes are impartial.

Timelines for the changes range from autumn 2023 to summer 2024.