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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has dealt with almost 700 data requests in the last financial year with only 2% refused due to cost.
The statistics revealed by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council also show it has paid thousands of pounds to dispose of 40 tonnes of confidential papers.
A report to be presented to the chamber this week identifies 699 requests processed under Freedom of Information (FoI) or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), at nearly even levels.
It reads: “The review of FoIs will enable the council to establish trends in requests for information and record management as well as allocating resources.
“There were 42 requests closed with information withheld in full compared to 453 with information granted in full.”
Record keeping of information requests began at the council in 2018.
The statistics show that the vast majority of information requests (693) were closed within a statutory time-scale with 15 withheld due to cost.
A request for a FoI is for general public sector information to be released where as an EIR applies to environmental data and has no absolute exemptions.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) a council should respond to a FoI request within 20 working days.
They can refuse if the cost and time exceeds an identified limit as well as other legal reasons such as national security.
In a separate record the council paid almost £2,500 to dispose of confidential waste papers in a three year contract (2023-26) to a ‘confidential shredding and data destruction’ company.
This was part of a new retention and disposal project supported by PRONI (Public Records Office NI) and SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives).
A new council contract is to be awarded in October following a value for money review.
According to the local authority report, Newry, Mourne and Down is one of the first to take on the new project and is to be used as a template for all 11 NI councils for potential retention and disposal of confidential paper work.
The ICO website also adds: “Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.
“Everybody has a right to access official information.
“The Government first published proposals for freedom of information in 1997.
“In the white paper Your Right to Know, the Government explained that the aim was a more open government based on mutual trust.
“In a 2011 survey carried out on behalf of the ICO, showed 81% of public bodies questioned agreed that the Act had increased the public’s trust in their organisation.”
