Freedom of Information: Implementation of Central Unit Policy: Confirmation
| Freedom of Information: Implementation of Central Unit Policy: Confirmation |
April 2015 | 
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1. Purpose
1.1. Purpose of the Freedom of Information (FOI) policy
This policy is designed to set out a framework for how FOI requests and responses are managed by the States of Jersey, through its Central FOI Unit (CFU) and departments. It does this by setting out:
- how access to information will be provided, and privacy maintained, in line with legislation;
- the role of the Central FOI Unit as a public function*;
- the function of the SPAs across the States of Jersey in relation to FOI.
*It should be noted that the management of FOI requires frequent handling or the transfer of personal data provided in FOI requests. It is critical to the ability of the States of Jersey to be able to manage the processing of personal data under the Data Protection Law and, to effect this, a clear statement and conferral of the FOI functions of the Central FOI Unit and departments needs to be articulated. This will enable data sharing agreements to be established between the separate legal entities that make up the administrations of the States of Jersey.
1.2. Policy coverage
This policy only relates to the States of Jersey to the extent those authorities (Scheduled Public Authorities or SPAs) are referred to in Article 1 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
1.3. Policy interdependencies
This policy is designed to be read alongside the Central FOI Unit corporate guidance which will be made available on the staff intranet (MyStates) and which will advise how FOI requests are received and responded to. This guidance has recently been revised and is attached in draft at Appendix 3. (Note that it is currently written as web content, not as a printed document).
This policy and the Central FOI Unit guidance acknowledge the advice offered to the States of Jersey in the FOI Code of Practice of the Office of the Information Commissioner.
2. Introduction
2.1. What FOI is
The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, (FOI), gives everyone the right of access to information held by public authorities in Jersey.
FOI exists to make public information easily available and accessible to anyone who asks for it. It aims to make public authorities more accountable and transparent in how they work, so increasing public confidence in how authorities operate.
2.2. The States of Jersey commitment to FOI
The States of Jersey (SOJ) is fully committed to FOI legislation and will work to nurture an operating culture that is increasingly open, transparent, accessible and accountable. It will demonstrate this through best practice in information management and governance, across both electronic and paper records; by enhancing the quality and security of the data it creates or holds; and by developing customer service standards that support the aims of increased accessibility and availability of information to the public.
2.3. FOI and Data Protection: two sides of the same coin
While information access is the primary purpose of FOI, the States of Jersey recognises that personal data and the privacy of individuals require protection, as established in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005. It will be acknowledged through this policy that protecting the privacy of personal information is a fundamental principle of FOI activity.
2.4. FOI and information management practices
FOI should enhance the overall efficiency of the States of Jersey through sustained improvement in information governance as required by Law.
FOI has sharpened the focus within the States of Jersey on how information is managed, which can only be of benefit to customers, stakeholders and those who work within States of Jersey departments.
Information audits were conducted leading up to the introduction of FOI legislation, with the aim of making sure that information is easier to find and retrieve, that information of heritage interest is properly archived and that information of no further use or retention purpose is disposed of.
2.5. Risks and challenges presented by FOI
FOI presents the States of Jersey with significant challenges which need to be addressed to prevent potential risk :
- the number, nature and complexity of requests will continue to grow: the processing of FOI requests can impose a formidable administrative burden on departments. Large and complex requests may be received from applicants and, regardless of the intentions of the applicant (noting that the Law is applicant and purpose blind), such requests may require significant resources and time to comply with the Law;
- failing to comply with FOI and Data Protection legislation carries significant risk: requests can relate to sensitive matters and releasing information may create reputational or individual embarrassment; there are legal complexities in the interaction with Data Protection and Public Records legislation; non-compliance carries potentially severe financial penalties; knowledge and experience of data protection differs greatly across the States and so training may be needed to minimise significant risk; cultural change is needed which may require the combined efforts of senior management, training and communications to facilitate;
- FOI invites departmental response and service comparison from the public and the media: the Central FOI Unit will work closely with departments to establish a consistency in the format, issuing and quality of FOI responses; it is critical that the States maintains and further develops a consistent level of governance, compliance and customer service across the delivery of FOI;
- records management challenges: technology has enabled the creation of electronic records and that has generated challenging issues in terms of records management and the extraction of information in response to requests;
- the States of Jersey still holds, creates and uses paper-based records: there is a danger in thinking that Information Technology is short for Information Management. IT can enable good information management practice across an organisation, and provide significant physical manipulation or security, but it cannot make qualitative decisions. While records management software is widely used across the States of Jersey, a vast number of records are still paper-based and there are significant data security issues to manage;
- FOI requests will be made and responses sought in new formats e.g. social media;
- many staff may not understand what FOI and related records management work means for them in their role: perhaps thinking this is someone else’s responsibility e.g. that of the FOI dedicated person or the departmental information governance team; some staff are uncomfortable with enhanced access to information under FOI and the concept of transparency, for fear of the personal or reputational consequences this may attract;
- FOI delivery across the States of Jersey could easily appear fragmented: accurate and consistent communications on FOI (internally and externally) are critical to avoid perceptions of a disjointed public sector. This carries reputational risk.
These challenges will be the focus of work undertaken by the Central FOI Unit in co-operation with the Scheduled Public Authorities (or departments) across the organisation.
3. FOI roles within the organisation
3.1. Function and role of States of Jersey departments
States of Jersey departments are separate legal entities and are wholly responsible (as Scheduled Public Authorities - or SPAs) under the FOI Law for the provision of information in response to FOI requests and the decisions that relate to the release, refusal, or exemption of information under the Freedom of Information (Law) 2011.
3.2. Function and role of FOI Programme Board
The purpose of the FOI Programme Board is to provide financial oversight and governance regarding the preparation of scheduled public authorities for the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
The FOI Programme Board will:
- ensure work is aligned with organisational strategy;
- ensure the effective use of assets;
- assist with resolving strategic level issues and risks;
- approve or reject changes with a high impact on timelines and budget
- assess FOI Programme progress;
- provide advice and guidance on business issues;
- use influence and authority to assist with FOI preparation;
- ensure and contribute to the development of a media strategy;
- ensure that public authorities receiving monies for FOI preparation are accountable for the completion of their identified deliverables.
See Appendix 1 for the full Terms of Reference of the States of Jersey FOI Programme Board
3.3. Function and role of the Corporate Management Board (CMB)
The Corporate Management Board (CMB) is made up of the Chief Officers of each States department and is chaired by the Chief Executive. The CMB is tasked with ensuring that the strategies, policies and decisions of the States and the Council of Ministers are implemented and delivered efficiently and effectively.
The CMB must provide corporate oversight and champion the efficient and effective delivery of FOI, Data Protection and related information legislation if the organisation is to remain compliant with such legislation and to deliver an effective FOI capability to the public it serves.
It will:
- foster awareness and understanding of the purpose of FOI;
- promote the objectives of FOI (e.g. transparency, openness, accountability) in the context of the performance of the organisation’s functions and its obligations to the public;
- ensure that FOI is central to the work and objectives of the States of Jersey;
- establish structures in departments to support the delivery and governance of FOI.
Operating and resource structures are required in each States department to facilitate the effective and efficient delivery of their legal obligations under FOI, and to help facilitate the administrative and information management activity FOI demands. It may do this through:
- the assignment of operational responsibility for FOI to a departmental FOI Point of Contact (e.g. manager or information governance officer);
- identifying the FOI Authoriser who will be able to provide prompt authorisation for the release of information in FOI responses;
- identifying the FOI Internal Reviewer when an internal review of an FOI response is requested by an applicant (the Internal Reviewer must be different and in a senior role to that of the FOI Authoriser of information);
- ensuring these officers have the requisite training to enable them to undertake these roles competently and with confidence;
CMB should review annually the capacity and capability of the FOI system of each department to confirm they can meet its legislative obligations.
The CMB of each department should also ensure that corporate policy and guidance on data protection and records management is followed, to support the efficient implementation of FOI.
3.4. The role of the Central FOI Unit (CFU) as a public function
The CFU sits in the Information Management team within the Information Services Department (ISD) within the Chief Minister’s Department (CMD), and is responsible for a variety of FOI activity on behalf of the States of Jersey. Within the CFU:
- the FOI programme and its implementation are strategically managed by the Head of Information Management, who also manages the Central FOI Unit staff;
- the CFU role is overseen by the Corporate FOI Manager who provides expert guidance on FOI and its relationship with Data Protection.
See Appendix 2 for roles within the Central FOI Unit in 2015.
The CFU develops FOI policy to guide, inform and advise the States (political and civil service) on key FOI policy and handling issues. This is to ensure the States of Jersey deliver FOI within the requirements of the Law, and to the standards set out by the Office of the Information Commissioner (Jersey).
The CFU provides leadership and expertise on FOI and its position within the wider information management team also enables it to draw from records management, data security and data management activity to facilitate effective FOI delivery. The CFU will work closely with the FOI ‘Network’ within the States of Jersey (see section 4.1 FOI Network) across all these areas of information management.
The CFU is the request handling ‘hub’ for the States of Jersey, providing the logging and tracking of all requests and the issuing of responses to applicants.
The CFU will not be able to:
- assume the legal responsibility for information and response decisions provided by States departments under FOI legislation;
- support organisations outside of the entities considered to comprise the States of Jersey.
The CFU is registered (“notified”) with the Office of the Information Commissioner as a Data Controller. A Data Controller determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, any personal information is processed. In this context, “processing” should be considered as doing almost anything with the information, from reading it on a PC to filming CCTV footage. (A Data Controller is usually an organisation but it can be a person and both can act jointly with another organisation or person.)
CFU staff should, as a minimum:
- have experience of managing request processes and issues related to FOI response preparation;
- have attended FOI and Data Protection training sessions provided in the role;
- have experience and expertise in information management practices, Data Protection and FOI legislation, training development and customer service activity;
- be DBS checked (Disclosure and Barring Service) in view of the highly-sensitive and personal information that handling some requests involve.
The main roles of the CFU are:
3.4.1. Public point of contact for FOI
The Unit is the primary interface between the public and the States with regards to the Law. It will:
- receive requests containing personal information from applicants and will pass this on to departments to facilitate the response to the applicant’s FOI request;
- act as the preferred entry point for all FOI requests, making is easier for the public to send their request through a single route (and for all FOI requests to be logged and tracked in the interests of compliance);
- act as the intermediary between the applicant and departments / SPAs e.g. when clarification may be required or where requests are likely to exceed the 20 working day response deadline and the applicant’s permission to extend is sought;
- process Subject Access Requests that need to be passed to the relevant department. The CFU will contact the applicant in advance to seek consent for transfer;
- be a single point of contact for the public when they wish to challenge a response to their FOI request prior to formal appeal, or when refinements to requests need to be discussed directly;
- manage the foi@gov.je mailbox;
- manage and develop online public content on FOI and Data Protection on www.gov.je/foi
and provide accurate and consistent public-facing content for other online communications channels;
The Central FOI Unit will also work with the corporate Communications function to:
- proactively disseminate information about FOI;
- advise on levels of media interest in topics evidenced through FOI and likely press stories;
- contribute to States’ FOI messaging as required;
- prepare media briefs or web content on matters relating to FOI legislation;
- to provide corporate public-facing FOI content as required;
- brief journalists and news editors about FOI.
3.4.2. Provision of management information and advice to Executive Management (Corporate Management Board and Council of Ministers)
The CFU will provide regular briefings to the States civil service and political executive on FOI activity across the States of Jersey. As part of this work, it will:
- provide quantitative data on the patterns, volume, generic sources and nature of FOI requests;
- provide information to assist departments to manage response handling and timings;
- provide recommendations on how the States can make information more available and accessible;
- escalate critical FOI issues in the areas of policy and compliance with the Law;
- inform organisational policy development in relation to FOI and Data Protection;
- recommend continuous improvement in FOI operational practices and Data Protection compliance;
- inform both corporate and information management training plans of learning and development requirements relating to FOI and Data Protection compliance and customer service;
- provide bespoke briefings for senior management staff on FOI and Data Protection.
3.4.3. FOI support for Departments and Non-Ministerial entities
These bodies will require support in areas other than direct assistance in answering FOI requests. The Unit will:
- interpret the Law and States’ policies for the development of best operational practice;
- act as a centre of expertise on FOI and Data Protection subject matter;
- work with departments to identify appropriate ‘lead’ handling department for requests;
- forward FOI requests from the CFU FOI mailbox and written letters to appropriate departments and/or non-ministerial entities
- disseminate requests that involve one or more departments/non-ministerial entities (aggregate requests) and will collate responses for requests needing unrelated responses;
- receive all final authorised responses from departments and provide a quality review;
- issue responses and extension requests to applicants;
- contact applicants directly where there may be issues relating to the fulfilment of their request;
- provide email and telephone alerts to remind departments of time remaining before a response needs to be issued to an applicant, and escalate if no status update is received;
- set the corporate FOI response and communications formats;
- provide communications content for internal and external use as needed;
- alert departments to any changes in FOI legislation or corporate policy;
- support the development and publishing of open data sets;
- facilitate an internal FOI ‘network’ as part of a wider Information Management professional group, comprising individuals leading on FOI and Data Protection work in their department or non-ministerial entity.
3.4.4. Legislative development
Review of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 will need to be made at intervals to inform request handling operations and policy. The Unit will:
- recommend areas in the Law that need clarification;
- identify subject matter that requires addition to the Law;
- translate legislation into policy during the development of Amendments and Regulations to the Law.
- Data sharing agreements need to be established between the separate legal entities that make up the administrations of the States of Jersey to achieve compliance with Data Protection legislation.
3.4.5. Training and internal communications
Responding to FOI requests, and maintaining compliance with the appropriate legislation, requires maintained skills, knowledge and understanding of the legislation and processes. Information management techniques will also be needed to ensure a continuous drive for corporate efficiency in the delivery of FOI.
The Unit will coordinate and conduct training, supported by integrated internal communications and campaigns, to support all States’ staff (and other bodies as required). Those departmental staff directly handling FOI requests will also be given access to in-depth training in such areas as:
- Freedom of Information e.g. understanding of and updates in the Law and its application to FOI delivery e.g. applying exemptions training;
- information Management skills, behaviours and processes e.g. records management, data security etc;
- Data Protection (knowledge and application);
- OIC Code of Practice;
- creation of open data sets.
The CFU will also provide briefing, training and access to resources for the 12 Parishes which will be subject to the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as of 1 September 2015.
(See sections 4 and 5 below)
3.4.6. Corporate interface with Jersey Archive
The formal records-based relationship between the States and Jersey Archive is the responsibility of the Corporate Records Manager who will work alongside the CFU.
The Corporate Records Manager will:
- facilitate a Memorandum of Understanding with Jersey Archive to achieve compliance of the Law with regards to information held by the organisation on behalf of departments and non-ministerial entities;
- assist with the securing of funding necessary to maintain retention schedules and the cataloguing of records to comply with the Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002;
- answer questions about the Law.
3.4.7. Provision of management information to develop corporate FOI performance
Anonymised data will be used to analyse handling metrics and to improve administration of FOI e.g numbers of requests, broad topics of requests, number and types of exemptions applied, source of requests.
Performance analysis will be used to reduce response times to ensure we meet the legal requirement to respond promptly to FOI requests.
3.4.8. Primary interface with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC)
The OIC is an independent statutory authority responsible for the regulation of information by implementing and ensuring compliance with the FOI and Data Protection Laws. The Unit will not facilitate the Appeals process; however, the CFU will seek advice on how the OIC’s Code of Practice can best be followed to maintain legislative compliance. It will also deliver recommendations to civil service, political and non-ministerial executive management on the guidance issued by the Office of the Information Commissioner.
3.5 Role of the departmental or scheduled public authority (SPA) FOI Point of Contact (POC)
States of Jersey departments are separate legal entities and are wholly responsible as Scheduled Public Authorities (or SPAs) under the FOI Law for answering FOI requests about information held by or for them.
The designated departmental FOI POC is central to the FOI capability of the States of Jersey in adhering to the relevant information legislation.
The FOI POC acts as:
- the main departmental conduit for the Central FOI Unit and the Authoriser on all FOI requests;
- the focal point for FOI advice and guidance within their department e.g. source of guidance on exemptions, applying the public interest test, the application and explanation of the redaction of data, the handling of non-traditional requests, whether a request is business as usual or to be handled as an FOI request etc.
The FOI POC must be given administrative support in line with the:
- size of the department;
- projected volume of requests;
- likely complexity or sensitivity of requests.
The FOI POC should:
- be capable of becoming a recognised expert within the department on how the legislation applies to the information and records of the public body and have sufficient expertise and experience in dealing with FOI requests;
- have the leadership skills, sufficient seniority and capability to raise, challenge and be able to explain significant issues to senior line managers and FOI authorisers and CMB. For example, the handling of specific FOI requests, resources, systems or capacity of the department to meet its FOI obligations;
- provide departmental reports on FOI handling performance to senior managers and the CFU;
- be DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked in view of the highly-sensitive and personal information that handling requests may often involve.
The FOI POC is tasked with maintaining and supporting the delivery of FOI at departmental level by:
- being the first point of contact with the CFU. They must liaise effectively and maintain collaborative working relationships with all internal and external stakeholders (CFU, authorisers, internal reviewers, other departments and the OIC);
- managing the departmental FOI mailbox;
- promoting the preferred entry point for requests via the online FOI form (on www.gov.je/foi )
- advising line management and / or their authorising officer or Chief Officer of any steps which they believe are necessary to help achieve overall compliance with statutory deadlines for processing FOI requests;
- ensuring that their departmental colleagues are given access to any corporately-provided training (e.g. Central FOI Unit delivered or organised, or as part of any corporate learning and development interventions e.g. Modern Managers, Corporate Induction etc);
- running departmental briefings, awareness raising or training interventions for staff offered at appropriate intervals and with support from the CFU;
- raising awareness among departmental staff of web content on FOI and related information management activity on the intranet (MyStates) or on the public-facing web pages on FOI;
- attending and sharing good practice at FOI ‘network’ meetings;
- keeping abreast of key changes to legislation or OIC guidance. This ensures that departmental staff are guided by good practice and that there is wide commitment to FOI response quality and customer service (e.g. duty to assist FOI applicants);
- maintaining up to date knowledge and information on relevant precedents for similar requests received in their department, particularly in relation to exemptions applied, including those subsequently confirmed or overturned by appeal to the Information Commissioner;
- aiming to minimise delays in obtaining sign-off for the release of information from authorising staff;
- participating in FOI network activities, meetings and professional updating that the CFU provides and to cascade the benefits of this to their departments.
3.6 Role of the departmental FOI Authoriser in a scheduled public authority
FOI Authorisers are appointed by the Chief Officer of a department. They are responsible within the departments for approving the release of information for an FOI request from a department.
Authorising staff should:
- have received basic training in FOI and Data Protection as a minimum;
- have attended ‘applying exemptions’ training and / or had some more bespoke briefings from the Central FOI Unit and the Law Officer’s Department.
Authorising staff should also have enough understanding of FOI and Data Protection legislation, and the organisational policy and departmental handling processes, to enable them to apply exemptions and public interest tests as appropriate and in a manner which will minimise the prospect that their decision-making will be overturned on appeal.
Authorising staff should be aware of what guidance is available both within their own department or centrally from the CFU, on the intranet, the public web site or the Office of the Information Commissioner.
Authorising staff should set aside adequate time for sign-off of an FOI response so that the States respond promptly to FOI requests, as required under the FOI legislation. This means the sign off should occur at the very least 2 days prior to the 20 working day cut-off date for response.
3.7 Function and role of the FOI Internal Reviewer
An internal review may be requested by an applicant within 20 days of an initial FOI response being issued and the applicant will request a review through the Central FOI Unit.
The review process is completely independent of the original decision. As such, the Internal Reviewer should be from a different functional area than the Authoriser and preferably be at a more senior level in the organisation (in the interests of maintaining impartiality and objectivity).
Where an internal review is requested, Internal Reviewers should review decisions made by FOI Authorisers; and following the review may affirm, vary, or annul the decision in relation to the matter as they consider appropriate. Internal reviewers must consider cases in terms of evaluating the evidence against any new arguments put forward by the applicant.
The Internal Reviewer should refer queries to the FOI POC to assist, or for the FOI POC to raise these with the CFU when, and if, required. They should keep the FOI POC up to date with the status of their review.
There is a responsibility for internal reviewers to ensure they have a thorough understanding of FOI and that they keep abreast of developments i.e. legislative changes or OIC guidance and decisions.
4. FOI internal communications and professional development
4.1 The FOI network (internal FOI staff community)
The CFU will aim to maintain regular contact and support of the network through a variety of channels, including regular meetings, email communications, and access to training.
The network of FOI staff across departments will provide a robust support infrastructure for FOI and facilitate a consistent approach in its application across government departments and the wider public sector.
The FOI network is central to the effective and efficient implementation of FOI and promotes shared learning and consistency in FOI delivery. The FOI network will contribute to the development of an operational environment for FOI which secures high-quality decision making.
The FOI network primarily includes:
- FOI staff in departments (POCs and their staff)
- FOI Authorisers
- records management staff
- Central FOI Unit staff
- those responsible for handling Subject Access Requests within departments (there is a strong inter-dependence between data protection and FOI )
- communications (press and media) staff
- the Jersey Archive
The CFU will also work closely with the following on policy and legal matters relating to FOI:
- Law Officers’ Department
- the Office of the Information Commissioner for Jersey
- FOI Programme Board
- Corporate Management Board
- Council of Ministers
The CFU is responsible for guiding the network, setting the policy and legislative framework for FOI so that it is delivered effectively and efficiently and that a high standard of customer service is provided to the public. The FOI network will meet regularly and play a valuable role in sustaining best practice in FOI decision-making and administration. These will include:
- departmental group meetings with the Central FOI Unit to identify handling issues and best practice solutions;
- FOI network events to share best practice and ideas; listen to invited practitioners in FOI (Jersey, UK and elsewhere) and to review processes.
4.1.2. FOI and corporate communications
The CFU will work closely with the corporate communications staff to:
- inform its guidance to SPAs on requests and the support of timely media preparation in relation to FOI responses;
- participate in communications network meetings where FOI is tabled on the agenda.
4.1.3 Internal FOI and Information Management newsletter and updates
An electronic newsletter will be issued on a regular basis by the CFU to ensure the widest possible sharing of relevant up-to-date policy, legal and best practice information on FOI, statistical information on FOI requests, news of training and professional events and related Information Management issues.
4.2 FOI and Information Management training
The prerequisite to achieving an excellent FOI operation is relevant training for all staff involved in dealing with FOI. This can help equip staff in public bodies with the knowledge and skills to properly fulfil their roles and responsibilities under the legislation.
Responding to FOI requests requires a maintained knowledge and understanding of FOI and Data Protection legislation, as well as an understanding of the purpose and practice of good records management and governance.
Skills in information management techniques will ensure a continuous drive for corporate efficiency in the delivery of FOI. The Unit will coordinate and/or conduct training, supported by integrated internal communications and campaigns, to support all States’ employees (and other bodies as required).
An Information Management training framework that will support the development of the organisation’s capability in delivering FOI is being developed. This will set out the core learning requirements for anyone involved in Freedom of Information work, including:
- Freedom of Information (basic knowledge, applying exemptions, processing requests, corporate induction content etc)
- Information Management skills, behaviours and processes
- Data Protection
- understanding of and updates in the Law and its application to FOI delivery
- creation of open data sets
The CFU will develop a single training framework which will set out:-
- knowledge, skills and understanding requirements for the different functions and roles in FOI work
- what should be mandatory for all staff and what is role relevant
- a recommended delivery model (training standards, quality assurance, trainer selection etc)
The framework will be kept under review ensuring that it remains up to date with changes in FOI and technology.
5. FOI and public-facing communications
5.1 Public communications about FOI
All public-facing content on FOI should be guided by the Central FOI Unit to ensure consistency and quality, both in terms of accuracy, messaging alignment and visual presentation. The intention of this is to avoid fragmented communications and to convey a consistent and professional corporate commitment to FOI. This will provide a platform on which to reinforce openness, transparency and accessibility.
The public FOI identity should be used across all public communications for FOI, including:
- the online FOI request form on gov.je
- pdf response templates to applicants
- public information leaflets or flyers for reception areas
- internal briefings and presentations
5.2 Public-facing web content
FOI and Data Protection information must be readily available on the public web sites of the States of Jersey. The Central FOI Unit will write and maintain all FOI-related content to ensure accuracy and consistency. This includes the Disclosure Log which will be wholly managed by the CFU.
5.3 Printed or other format public-facing content
To help departments inform their customers about FOI, the CFU will provide departments with supplies of corporate States of Jersey flyers on FOI for use in public areas.
Public-facing flyers will also be provided to main public information points, such as:
- Citizens Advice Bureau (Jersey)
- Victim Support
- Youth Enquiry Service
- Parishes (from 1 September 2015)
Copies of the public-facing flyers will be issued at briefings e.g. news editors.
The CFU will also provide departments with:
- FOI content for reception area screens
- FOI PowerPoint templates for external or internal usage
- banners for public events (available on request)
- design guidance where the public-facing design elements are to be used by a department
5.4 Disclosure and publication of official information
A disclosure log is an online, published set of FOI requests and responses. When a response is issued to an applicant, the information it contains is then in the public domain and is consequently publicly available.
The purpose of a disclosure log is to inform the public of information that has been requested, and provided under FOI, and evidences the organisation’s desire to commit to transparency and openness.
Knowing what has already been requested and disclosed can also prevent repeat requests for information needing to be answered by States of Jersey.
It is also important that information disclosed to commercial organisations is disclosed for the benefit of all.
The disclosure log can be found at http://www.gov.je/Government/FreedomOfInformation/Pages/FOIDisclosureLog.aspx
FOI requests will be published on a regular basis at the discretion of the Central FOI Unit.
The CFU will anonymise all requests when these are published, redacting applicant names and contact details and any personal information about the applicant or other people.
The redaction will be done by the Central FOI Unit to ensure data privacy is fully maintained e.g. or where the applicant’s name and unique ID require redaction.
Any third party data in the response issued to an applicant should have complied with data protection principles before its release to an applicant e.g. into the public domain.
It will be made clear to an applicant that their request, and the response issued by the Central FOI Unit, may be published, as follows:
- on the FOI pages of gov.je;
- on the online form prior to the submission of the form by the applicant;
- in the response to the applicant;
- in printed public information.
5.5 Routine publication of official information
Routine and pro-active publication of official information by the States of Jersey is encouraged under this policy, as this would:
- assist the public in accessing official data and information held by the States of Jersey, therefore encouraging greater transparency and openness;
- help free up staff and resources used in the information gathering of information and related work involved in FOI requests
- help reduce the volume of FOI requests by pre-empting requests that would otherwise arise.
Information should be readily found on websites, for example, by enabling search functions and having an alphabetical directory, as well as tree structures.
Guidance on how information may be published pro-actively online, including the format, layout and style of how information should be published in the best interests of the customer is available from Information Services.
The public profile of FOI should be raised on gov.je, with access to guidance on FOI and how to make a request easily found on the home page.
5.6 Corporate Communications Unit and FOI requests
The CFU will prepare a weekly summary of FOI request topics and handling departments for the corporate Communications Unit. This is anonymised for data protection purposes and has restricted circulation to avoid unnecessary dissemination of request content and is marked confidential.
The purpose of this is to inform corporate communications staff of requests so that they can identify those which may require pro-active messaging preparation in readiness for when the information is released into the public domain. The summary contains the name of the handling department so that there can be adequate pre-emptory liaison between the communications unit and the departments preparing information for release. This allows for senior staff who may be faced with additional media questions to be fully prepared in time.
Departments are encouraged to share the anonymised response and to discuss the likely impact of information to be released with their local or the corporate Communications function as early as possible and ideally prior to release to the applicant.
More advice on communications preparation will be provided in the CFU guidance to departments (see Appendix 3).
5.7 Requests for media interviews about FOI
If the media ask for an interview relating to Freedom of Information in general, for example an overall opinion of the success of the implementation of the Law, only the Chief Minister, the Chief Executive or Assistant Chief Minister should act as spokesperson.
If the request for interview is about FOI itself eg legal aspect, processing aspect, data relating to FOI, then the Central FOI Unit must be informed. Head of Information Management can give media interviews on FOI.
However, if the interview relates to a department specific subject, the department should either contact their own communications team or Anna Plunkett Cole from the corporate Communications Unit to discuss the way forward.
Appendices
Appendix 1. Terms of Reference of the FOI Programme Board
Terms of Reference States of Jersey Freedom of Information (FOI) Programme Board | 
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Title | States of Jersey Freedom of Information Programme (FOI) Board |
Accountable to | John Richardson |
States of Jersey Freedom of Information Aim FOI Programme Board Purpose Roles | The States of Jersey has adopted the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. The purpose of this law is to improve the transparency, openness and access of information held by public authorities. Streamlining and improving the ease of public access to information falls directly in-line with the States’ Public Sector Reform agenda. To provide financial oversight and governance regarding the preparation of public authorities for the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. The FOI Programme Board will: - Ensure work is aligned with organizational strategy.
- Ensure the effective use of assets.
- Assist with resolving strategic level issues and risks.
- Approve or reject changes with a high impact on timelines and budget.
- Assess programme progress.
- Provide advice and guidance on business issues.
- Use influence and authority to assist with FOI preparation.
- Ensure and contribute to the development of a media strategy.
- Ensure that public authorities receiving monies for FOI preparation are accountable for the completion of their identified deliverables.
The FOI Programme Board Chair will: - Determine the make-up of the Programme Board and with support from the Programme Manager.
- Liaise with all Departments to ensure they are fully represented and their resource requirements are all factored into the overall programme.
- Provide regular updates on progress to the Corporate Management Board.
- Provide regular updates on progress to the Council of Ministers.
- Set the agenda for each meeting.
- Ensure that agendas and supporting materials are delivered to members in advance of meetings.
- Make the purpose of each meeting clear to members and explains the agenda at the beginning of each meeting.
- Clarify and summarize what is happening throughout each meeting.
- Put time limits on each agenda items and keeping all meetings to one and a half hours or less.
- Encourage broad participation from members in discussion by calling on different people.
- End each meeting with a summary of decisions and assignments.
- Follow up with consistently absent members to determine if they wish to discontinue membership.
- Find replacements for members who discontinue participation.
The FOI Programme Board Members will: - Understand the goals, objectives, and desired outcomes of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) 2011 Law.
- Understand and represent the interests of all public authority stakeholders.
- Take a genuine interest in FOI outcomes and overall success.
- Act on opportunities to communicate positively about the FOI.
- Check that sensible financial decisions are being made – especially in procurement and in responding to issues, risks and proposed changes.
- Check that the FOI Programme is aligned with the organizational strategy as well as policies and directions across public authorities as a whole.
- Ensure that any changes to resource requirements are identified at an early stage to maintain continuity of delivery for the implementation plan.
- Championing the adoption of best FOI practices.
- Influence corporate and departmental decisions regarding policies, systems, technologies and processes to ensure mindfulness of States of Jersey FOI agenda and strategy.
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Document Control: |
Version No: 0.1 | Policy Author: Central FOI Unit | Date Issued: Not issued | Policy Owner: Head Information Services | Page 1 of 24 |
Freedom of Information: Implementation of Central Unit Policy: Confirmation
Appendix 3. Central FOI guidance to departments
Content for the web (Draft)
Guidance toolkit on managing FOI requests in the States of Jersey
Who is this guidance for?
This guidance:
- is for designated FOI Points of Contact and FOI response authorising managers;
- should be used by any member of staff given the authority within a department to prepare FOI responses in readiness for release authorisation;
- should be read alongside the States of Jersey FOI Policy document [link] which outlines the main functions of the Central FOI Unit and States departments in the handling of information requests under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
General principles of Freedom of Information handling
- Requests are applicant and purpose blind. All applicants are to be treated equally and fairly under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 and the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005. The identity or motive of the person asking an FOI question is of no relevance to how the request is handled.
- Applicant privacy is paramount. The processing of personal data must also be processed fairly and lawfully. Therefore, the processing of personal information must be confined to what is necessary for the department to meet its obligations under the FOI Law; personal data should not be disseminated any further than absolutely necessary to achieve this aim. When departments are handing personal data in connection with an FOI request, only the FOI Officer (FOI Point of Contact) and Authoriser need to be privy to the personal data in order to make the assessments needed to meet the requirements of Article 2 of the FOI Law. Article 2 provides that a “request for information” means a request for information that is (a) in writing (b) states the name of the applicant (c) states an address for correspondence; and (d) describes in adequate detail the information requested.
- Responses must be issued to applicants within 20 working days. Time should be built into the processing of each request to allow for release authorisation from your department. Please aim for authorised responses to be forwarded to the Central FOI Unit by the end of working day 18 at the latest.
- We must provide help and assistance to people making FOI requests. Assistance can include:
- requesting further clarification to make sure we are providing exactly what someone is looking for;
- writing in plain English;
- providing links to further published information;
- making sure that all abbreviations are fully explained in a response.
- Consistency and quality of response is critical. People see the States of Jersey as a single public sector and we should be consistent in how we deliver, present or communicate on FOI requests and responses. This helps maintain positive perceptions of the public sector among those who may fund our services. Our communications should not contain errors of fact or grammar, FOI responses should not – unless there is good reason – be issued after 20 working days, and should not be poorly formatted.
- FOI is about openness, availability transparency and accountability. We should think of information as public information that should be available to all, not something we ‘own’ and only begrudgingly share. Having a disclosure log and increasing the amount of information we publish online are ways we can demonstrate this principle. Note also that it is a criminal offence to alter, erase, destroy or conceal information held by a public authority with the intention of preventing its release under FOI.
- All FOI requests must be copied to the Central FOI Unit for logging and all responses must be issued through the Central FOI Unit.
- All responses must be authorised for public release by a designated department ‘Authoriser’.
- Departments will inform via FOI@gov.je of any changes to FOI Points of Contact and Senior Authorising Officers including any revised contact details
DAY 0 - 1
Receiving an FOI request
You’ll receive an FOI request either:
- directly into your departmental FOI mailbox from the Central FOI Unit, accompanied with a redacted pdf giving the request, any relevant attachments provided by an applicant, the date of receipt of the request and a unique ID number.
- by email from an applicant. If it is marked as an FOI request, or if you believe it should be treated as an FOI request, you must forward to FOI@gov.je so that a unique ID is generated. You do not need to acknowledge an FOI request you receive by email as the Central FOI Unit will do this when assigning a unique ID.
- By post. In this instance, scan the letter and email this to FOI@gov.je .
Identifying the lead department
- in some cases, the Central FOI Unit will call an FOI Point of Contact to establish if their department is the most appropriate department to take the lead on a request.
- when you receive the pdf and unique ID number from the Central FOI Unit, you may be asked to lead on the handling and collation of a multi-department request. This means that until the response is authorised and issued to the Central FOI Unit for release, it is your department that will need to liaise with other ‘contributing’ departments and to ensure all are happy for any draft response to be authorised prior to release through the Central FOI Unit.
When the 20 working days start:
- the ‘20 working days’ start on the day following receipt of the FOI request from the applicant. The Central FOI Unit will forward to a department any request received from an applicant before 1600H on the same day, or by 1000H the next day if it is received after 1600H.
FOI request or business as usual?
Remember that you may wish to treat any information request you receive directly from an individual– if not marked by the applicant as being made under FOI – as a business as usual request. This will depend on the request (on a case by case basis) and whether you think it can be responded to easily. If the information being asked for can be provided easily e.g. if it does not require investigation, extraction from other data, is already published online etc, then you can treat a request as business as usual.
That said, a request cannot be ignored or refused simply because it is not clearly marked as a request being made under FOI legislation or addressed to a non-FOI member of staff; any letter or email to a public authority asking for information is a request for recorded information under the Law. While you may treat any request as BAU, the provisions of the Law need only come into force if:
- the information cannot be provided easily or quickly e.g. as a BAU request might be handled or
- the applicant makes it clear they expect a response under the FOI (Jersey)Law
If you decide to treat a request as BAU, you are encouraged to make sure it is answered quickly. If it decided that a request is BAU, it would by its very nature be something that should be answered more easily than an FOI request.
Start calculating the time it will take to respond to an FOI request
As soon as you receive a request, it’s a good idea to start calculating the time needed to answer it. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will be able to see if the request needs to be refined to bring it under the 12.5 hour limit.
Day 1 – 5
Seeking clarification or refining the scope of a request
- If the scope of the FOI request is so wide that refusal is likely (e.g. under Article 16 and related Regulations), you may decide to ask the Central FOI Unit to contact the applicant to narrow the scope of the request e.g. reduce the span of years of information requested. You may also need to seek clarification about what the requester means for a part of a request. In each case, this should be done through the Central FOI Unit.
- If seeking clarification or refinement of a request, please discuss this with the Central FOI Unit. In cases where a subject matter expert needs to discuss the request with an applicant, the Central FOI Unit will provide the applicant’s contact details to the department subject expert only.
- Try to provide the CFU with a draft revision to the request so that we can contact the applicant for confirmation or further discussion. This is part of how we should assist applicants to access the information they ask for.
- If the request is so unclear that you cannot proceed with a response e.g. the request makes no sense or is illegible, then the request will be considered invalid under FOI legislation and the CFU will contact the applicant to inform them of this and to ask them to resubmit their question.
- When clarification is sought, the 20 working day ‘clock’ is re-set to zero on the day the revised, or clarified, request is received from an applicant. The Central FOI Unit will let the FOI Point of Contact know when the clarification is received by forwarding it to the departmental FOI mailbox on the day of receipt.
- If you do wish to seek clarification, you are advised to do this within the first few days of receiving the request. The applicant and the Information Commissioner would take a poor view of requests for clarification being issued promptly.
Communications and FOI request handling
- When you receive an FOI request, the nature of the information sought is likely to indicate the level of media interest that it will generate when it becomes public and how prepared your department will need to be to handle follow up queries.
- As you know, all requests need to treated as applicant and purpose-blind so that all requests are treated equally and fairly. Requests must not be handled differently, or additional information given, based on who is asking.
- However, Ministers and senior officers so need to be briefed about questions which are likely to generate media interest, either from the more traditional or online media so the sooner you alert the relevant senior officers and communications staff of the possible impact of a request, the better. That way, additional context can be discussed fully and briefings prepared for those are will have to answer any questions which come up.
- If you are releasing a response to a request that gives information about other departments, please ensure that the relevant departmental FOI Points of Contact are aware of this.
- If you have your own Communications Manager / Officer, discuss the likely impact of the FOI request at as early a stage as possible so that adequate preparations can be made and any difficult questions related to the response can be pre-empted. If you do not have a dedicated departmental communications member of staff, contact the Communications Unit at the Chief Minister’s Departments on 440430 for advice.
- In addition, the Central FOI Unit provides a weekly, redacted summary of all requests and handling departments it receives to the:
- Assistant Director, Ministerial Support and Communications
- Communications Manager, Chief Minister’s Office
This is provided on the last day of each week, giving lead communications staff the time to identify any requests that they feel would warrant particular handling preparation from a communications perspective and time to contact handling departments in advance. Those departments that have their own communications officer(s) can provide a summary of departmental requests to those staff.
Day 10 – 18 Alerts and extensions
Email and telephone alerts from the Central FOI Unit
To assist departments handling requests, and to help make sure the States of Jersey complies to the response timeframe set out in FOI legislation, reminder alerts will be issued as follows:
- On the 10th working day, an email alert will be sent to the departmental mailbox requesting a ‘noted’ reply.
- On the 12th working day – and if no response has been received from a department to the previous 10 working day alert - a further email alert will be sent to the departmental mailbox requesting ‘noted’ reply.
- On the 15th working day, an email alert will be sent to the departmental mailbox and copied to the authoriser giving how many days remain and a reminder about what is needed if an extension period is required to take the response time beyond 20 working days. The Central FOI Unit may also telephone the FOI Point of Contact if there is no status update.
- On the 18th working day, a reminder alert will be emailed to the departmental FOI mailbox and escalated to the authorising manager with an urgent for action message marked with ‘high importance’.
Requesting a response extension to 20 working days
Sometimes there may be a need to ask the applicant for longer than the statutory 20 working days to answer an FOI request. This is called a request for extension.
To encourage compliance with FOI legislation, it is good practice to think of requesting extensions only in very exceptional circumstances e.g. when information held by a school cannot be provided outside of term dates. If you really need to request an extension to the 20 working days, a reason for this need will most likely be apparent to you within the first 15 working days of the process.
The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 requires public authorities to reply promptly to FOI requests and the Office of the Information Commissioner (Jersey) also provides guidance on what is required when an extension is requested.
If requesting an extension to the 20 working days, please provide the Central FOI Unit with the following information to pass on to the applicant.
1. The detailed reason for the need to ask the applicant for an extension;
2. The grounds on which the department considers the delay to be reasonable;
3. The number of additional working days requested and the date on which the response will be issued to the applicant.
This is important as it will be necessary for the department to be able to justify the reasonable use of any extension which may be the subject of later review by the Information Commissioner should any appeal process occur.
Note as reference the following sections of the Office of the Information Commissioner’s (Jersey) FOI Code of Practice:
Freedom of Information Article 44 Code of Practice of the Office of the Information Commissioner (paras. 19 to 22 refer.)
By Day 18 at the latest
Providing the FOI response to the Central FOI Unit
- All responses to FOI requests must be authorised (signed off) by your department authoriser for release and then emailed to the Central FOI for issue.
- Responses should be in a Word document as in the template below and written in the third person (the response is from the States of Jersey, not you as an employee).
- Email the response to foi@gov.je and in the subject line write:
FINAL RESPONSE 202-03-XXXX
Checklist prior to issuing the response to the Central FOI Unit:
- Have all contributing departments been copied in and, where appropriate, agreed to the draft response?
- Do the links in your response work?
- Have you listed the exemptions under the response?
- If the applicant requires the response by post, do not include very long url links to pdfs or web site pages in the copy.
- Have you included final response and the unique ID in the subject line of the email to FOI@gov.je ?
- Have you included all attachments you wish to add to the response
- Removed the applicant’s name or staff names from your request and any personal data relating to other individuals?
- Have you changed references to ‘he/she’ to ‘they’?
- Are you happy for all the response to be published on the FOI disclosure log? If not, please state why when forwarding the response to the Central FOI Unit.
The Central FOI Unit will then check the response thoroughly for things such as:
- columns of data that do not add up to the given totals;
- that the response matches the original question;
- that it contains the correct ID number;
- exemption issues e.g. where these may have been misquoted;
- editorial issues e.g. reference to the UK Act / FOIA;
- inadvertent inclusion of personal data
The Central FOI unit will then:
- prepare the covering email and letter to accompany the response, including details of the internal review and appeals process;
- issue the response to the applicant;
- provide a copy of the response back to the department to confirm it has been issued to the applicant;
- update logging data for management information purposes and close the request;
- add the response to the disclosure log within the following 2 weeks.
The Central FOI Unit will issue a response:
- on the same day it arrives in the FOI@gov.je mailbox if this is before 4 pm.
- the next working day if the response arrives in the FOI mailbox after 4 pm.
This is important to note, especially if you are sending a response to the Central FOI Unit on the 19th or 20th working day and / or where the applicant has requested a postal response.
Please aim to send to the Central FOI Unit for issue at least 48 hours prior to when you would wish the response to be received by the applicant. Note that if there are any critical issues with the final response that need to be amended, the Central FOI Unit will return the response to the department for amendment and will not issue the release.
Related links:
- FOI Policy (Functions and roles for the delivery of FOI in the States of Jersey)
- Office of the Information Commissioner – guidance
- Jersey Law web site (FOI Law)
- Visual guide for departments
- Exemptions pdf
- FOI Glossary
- FOI Disclosure Log
- www/gov.je/foi
Appendix 4. Glossary of policy terms
Term | Definition |
SPA | Scheduled Public Authority (as defined by those authorities referred to in Article 1 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.) |
CFU | Central FOI Unit: The policy, guidance and governance function that manages the States of Jersey FOI delivery |
Authoriser | The member of staff within a department who authorises the release of the information for an FOI request, usually at senior management / director level. |
FOI POC | FOI Point of Contact: The main departmental advisory point and process manager for all departmental FOI requests, with specialist knowledge of the information held by their department. |
Internal Reviewer | The member of staff, who should be of a senior level to the Authoriser, who can impartially manage an applicant-requested internal review. |
FOI Network | This may comprise (depending on the event) the following: Operational network: CFU staff; FOI POCs; departmental FOI handling staff; Authorisers; Jersey Archive; records management staff; communications staff Policy and legal network: FOI Political steering group; The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC); Council of Ministers CoM); Corporate Management Board (CMB); |
Redaction | Redaction means removing confidential or legally-exempt data and metadata from any FOI response before it is issued to the requester. This may be necessary to ensure that someone's personal data is protected or if some exempt information needs to be removed within a document that will be used to answer an FOI request. |
Appeal | If an FOI applicant is not content with the outcome of the internal review, they have the right to apply directly to the Office of the Information Commissioner for a decision. |
Internal Review | If an applicant is dissatisfied with the handling of their request, they may ask the CFU for an internal review from the department that provided the response information. |
Document Control: |
Version No: 0.1 | Policy Author: Central FOI Unit | Date Issued: Not issued | Policy Owner: Head Information Services | Page 1 of 24 |
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