Devon and Cornwall

On 29th July 2024 the Information Commission’s Office (‘ICO’) issued enforcement notices on Devon and Cornwall Police and Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust for failing to meet basic information request requirements, as set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

We have copied the action taken against Devon and Cornwall Police as published by the ICO –

Devon and Cornwall Police

In 2023, as part of our routine work to monitor public authorities’ compliance with the legislation, the Information Commissioner found Devon and Cornwall Police to be performing poorly in terms of their obligation to provide responses to information requests.

It was revealed that between 2022 and 2024 the percentage of requests responded to within the statutory FOI timeframe of 20 working days was consistently low (between 39% and 65%). Their rate of response to internal review requests was also poor, averaging between 0% and 22%.

The Force had a backlog of older FOI requests which had increased from 77 in December 2023 to 251 in June 2024.

Our enforcement notice orders the Force to devise and publish an action plan in the next 30 days which must detail how they will comply with their duties to respond to information requests in a timely manner. The Force has been given six months to clear the existing backlog.

The full press release can be found here – https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2024/07/ico-takes-action-against-two-organisations-for-risking-public-trust-by-failing-to-respond-to-public-requests-for-information/