Archived decisions
Appendix 1 Item 14
HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
Policy
1. The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) is committed to full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and is ultimately responsible for determining and establishing the policies that shall apply to information held by the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS), and for the instigation of procedures and guidance for the administration of requests for that information in compliance with the provisions of the Act.
2. HFRS will ensure that responsibilities of contractors, bodies working under service level agreements and partnership agreements are aware of their responsibilities to HFRS and that they have in place sufficient and effective means to ensure that they can competently carry out their responsibilities.
3. This policy will be reviewed at least annually to ensure that it remains up to date, effective and takes account of emerging good practice. Where new legal directions come into force, the policy will be reviewed in line with the commencement date of that legislation.
Legal Obligations for Public Authorities
1. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) was passed on 30 November 2000 and is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public authorities by providing people with rights of access to all types of `recorded' information held by public authorities, subject to certain exemptions. It is expected that these rights will facilitate better public understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money. The exemptions are designed to protect confidential or other information where disclosure may prejudice the interests of the State or of third parties.
2. All communications in writing (including by electronic means) to a public authority fall within the scope of the FOIA if they seek information, and must be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Act. It is therefore essential that everyone working within HFRS is familiar with the provisions of the FOIA, the Codes of Practice1 issued under its provisions and any relevant guidance of good practice issued by the Information Commissioner.
3. The FOIA creates two principal obligations for public authorities, from which other obligations stem:
a) Scheme in place and effective from 30th November 2002 setting out details of information it will routinely publish, how the information can be obtained and whether there is any charge for it. The HFRA's approved publication scheme can be viewed at http://www.hantsfire.gov.uk/manage/foi/infocurrent.php The scheme will be reviewed biennially.
b) The Act will be fully effective from 1st January 2005. Each public authority must comply with a request to be informed whether it holds information of the description specified and, if so, to communicate it to the person requesting it, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Public authorities will normally have a maximum of twenty working days to respond to the request, however there are circumstances when this time limit can be extended.
Roles and Responsibilities
HFRA has delegated responsibility for the implementation of the FOIA to:
1. The Senior Management Team (SMT) which is to be responsible for ensuring that information held within its areas of responsibility fully complies with the policies and procedures set by the Authority, including information processed by contractors, partners or other bodies working under service level agreement.
2. Function Heads who are to be responsible for ensuring that staff under their direction and control are aware of the policies, procedures and guidance laid down by the HFRA and for checking that those staff understand and appropriately apply policies, procedures and guidance in carrying out their day to day work.
3. The Information Officer who is to be responsible for administering all requests for information made to HFRS. The Information Officer will also provide a point of contact for all members of staff in HFRS who require advice on Freedom of Information Act matters. The Information Officer will, where possible, provide advice directly to staff on FOIA matters or otherwise refer to a competent person to obtain such advice.
4. All staff who are to be responsible for processing information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the policies, procedures and guidance that are laid down by the HFRA.
Monitoring, review and evaluation
1. HFRS will maintain a register of all requests made for information under the Freedom of Information Act and the action taken on each application. The register will identify whether the same or similar information has previously been requested and provided, or refused and the reasons for refusal. This will ensure consistency in dealing with similar requests and identify repeated, duplicate or vexatious requests.
2. HFRS will also identify recurring requests for the same or similar information not already published and to consider whether such information should be routinely published on the website or in another medium. Performance in dealing with such requests will be monitored by the Information Officer and reported to the Senior Management Team.
3. HFRS will put in place procedures for systematically reviewing its arrangements for administering and managing requests for information. These procedures will include systems for auditing compliance with the Act by HFRS and those who hold data on HFRS' behalf.
4. HFRS will maintain a register of all complaints received about its Freedom of Information arrangements and will ensure that any learning points that arise from such complaints are used to improve related policies, procedures and guidance.
1 Codes of Practice
The Lord Chancellor has issued two Codes of Practice as required in Part I of the FOIA for public authorities.
1. The Access Code of Practice covers:
a) the provision of advice and assistance by public authorities to any applicant seeking information;
b) the transfer of requests by one public authority to another public authority who may hold the information;
c) consultation with anyone to whom the information relates or those likely to be affected by a disclosure of information;
d) the inclusion of terms relating to disclosure of information in contracts entered into by public authorities; and
e) the provision of a complaints procedure.
2. The Records Management Code of Practice sets out his views on desirable practice for the keeping, management and destruction of the records of relevant authorities.
Signed:_____________________________________________
Chief Officer, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
Dated: ____________________________________
Groups/Secretarial/WP/Word/Corporate/HFRA HFRA 15 9 2004 FIO Appx 1