3November 2010

Raphael Clifford

By e-mail to:
/ Our Ref: F0004006/ 4056

Dear Mr Clifford

INTERNAL REVIEW: Housing Associations (F0004006/ 4056)

Thank you for your e-mail of 4 October 2010 in which you asked the Department for Communities and Local Government to carry out an internal review of thehandling ofyour request for information.

I was appointed as the independent review officer within the Department to carry out the internal review. I can confirm that I work in a different area of the Department to that which dealt with your requests for information and that I have had no prior involvement in the handling of those requests.

You asked the review to consider whether the public interest issues were indeed exceptionally complex, especially in the light of the ICO guidance that a public authority should not take, as a matter of course, several weeks to assess the public interest considerations but aim to respond fully to requests within 20 working days.

The Department has a statutory obligation under the FOI Act to respond to a request for information within 20 working days of receiving the request. That deadline can only be extended when a qualified exemption applies to the information sought and more time is needed to reach a decision as to whether the public interest is best served by disclosing the exempt information or by maintaining the exemption.

In undertaking this review I therefore considered firstly whether the exemption given in the Department’s email to you of 4 October, in which the deadline for responding to your request was extended, was correctly cited. Section 35(1)(a) provides an exemption for information which relates to the formulation or development of government policy. I am satisfied that the exemption was correctly engaged because,in the Department’s view,the information in question related to the development of policy on how it engages with Housing Associations on transparency and the proactive publication of information.

I next when on to consider the Department’s decision to extend by 20 working days the deadline for responding to your request. I also note that on 1November 2010 the Department provided its respond to you. The effect of the extension, therefore, has been to bring the total response time to 40 working days.

In this respect the Department’s response time is consistent with the ICO’s advice that where the public interest considerations are exceptionally complex it may be reasonable to take longer, but that in no case should the totaltime exceed 40 working days.

I, therefore, sought to establish whether the public interest considerations, which needed to be analysed before a decision to release the information or maintain the exemption could be made, were exceptionally complex.In this regard the Department accepts that the public interest issues were not exceptionally complex in this case.

The findings of my review are that the Department correctly cited the exemption at section 35(1)(a) of the FOI Act as a justification forseeking to extend its response time to your request. At the time of the extension the Department, therefore, had to make what it considered the best estimate of the time required to consider the issues. I note that the 20 working day extension period is consistent with the ICO’s advice as to what is a reasonable period. In practice, however, the public interest issues did not turn out to be particularly complex. By the same account Iam satisfied that the consideration of these issues was not entirely straightforward, as there were potential implications for the development ofpolicy. The Department ensured it responded within the timeframe specified; to that end Iam satisfied the request was handled appropriately and the Department complied with the requirements of the Act.

If you are not content with the outcome of your request for an internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. The ICO can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF.

e-mail:

Yours Sincerely

Joseph Crilly