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Annual Report 2008 - Text
Outcome of Reviews
Not all of the reviews completed resulted in the issuing of formal decisions; some were discontinued, some were withdrawn and a settlement was effected in others.
Formal Decisions
During 2008, I issued 113 formal decisions, which accounts for 44% of all cases dealt with during the year. In 82 (72%) of the formal decisions, I affirmed the decision of the public body, whilst I varied 21 (19%) of the decisions and annulled the remaining 10 (9%). This compares with 66% of decisions affirmed in 2007 and 76% in 2006.
Settlements and Withdrawals
The FOI Act provides that at any stage during a review, I may try to effect a settlement between the parties on the records to be released. In some cases, requesters may agree to narrow the focus of the review by agreeing to exclude records which will add little or no value to the information they seek. In others, it might be agreed that additional records outside the scope of the original request be released without the need for me to arrive at a formal decision in the case. As always, I would encourage public bodies, in the course of dealing with requests, to engage directly with requesters with a view to achieving settlements in those cases where a full granting of the request is unlikely.
During 2008, 54 cases were settled by my Office. This represents almost 21% of all reviews completed during the year compared with some 17% in 2007, 9% in 2006, and 10% in 2005. I welcome this increase in the settlement rate in that it gives effect to the intent of the FOI Act, i.e. that cases should be completed not only by means of a formal decision, but also informally, where appropriate.
In 2008, 33% of all reviews completed were withdrawn by the applicants. This compares to 35% in 2007 and 23% in both 2006 and 2005. In most cases in which the application is withdrawn, this comes about following detailed discussions between the applicant and a member of my staff, and can often result in release of records by the public body at different stages of the review.
A closer examination of the type of cases resulting in settlement or withdrawal can be found in Chapter 2 of this Report.
Cases Discontinued
Cases that were discontinued during 2008 accounted for 2.7% of reviews completed, compared to 2.2% in 2007 and 2.7% in 2006.
