York Press report:

COUNCIL staff in York have become slower at dealing with Freedom of Information requests, forcing new measures to be introduced.

The number of FOI responses made by City of York Council within the 20-day deadline laid down by law fell from 87 per cent in 2011/12 to 77 per cent in the first three months of 2013/14, the authority’s own findings have shown.

An internal review has shown the importance of meeting FOI rules is “not consistently recognised” by council staff responsible for answering requests, while internal deadlines are not set to ensure responses are made on time and delays are often caused by a “complex” process.

You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.