Improving transparency: key steps for councils to strengthen FOI compliance

Transparency is key to public trust. As the regulator of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), we have a responsibility to ensure that public bodies uphold that trust.  

Having previously carried out research projects to learn more about FOI compliance in the policing and NHS sectors, we have now shifted our focus to local authorities.  

Our deep dive into this sector focused on mid-sized local authorities to provide a clearer picture of how district and borough councils are coping with rising demands and increasing complexity of information requests. As well as providing comprehensive ‘top tips’ to encourage further improvements. 

Why just mid-sized authorities? 

District and borough councils are often the first place residents turn to when making an information request about their local area. Analysing their performance is important in understanding what the public want to know, and how these authorities can serve them better.  

What we did and what we found: 

• We secured FOI compliance data from 26 borough councils across the North West, with eight taking part in further insight interviews.  
• Frontline staff dealing with FOIs are working hard and despite ongoing pressures, they are often doing well but on average compliance levels are lower than they should be.  
• Only 0.6% of requests resulted in a complaint to the ICO, and some authorities are achieving performance as high as 100% for some quarters. But on average across those surveyed, almost 1 in 5 responses (17%) are missing the statutory deadline.  
• More than half of the authorities we contacted already publish, or plan to publish information about their performance. But some do not. We have taken regulatory action against two public authorities on this matter: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Halton Borough Council. We are continuing to follow up when organisations are not enabling transparency around performance for local communities.   
• FOIA allows information to be withheld when necessary. The most common reasons for withholding information were due to the information being personal data of other people, it was already reasonably accessible to the public, it related to law enforcement, it was commercially sensitive or it was provided to the organisation in confidence.  

Overall, while there are some positive examples of good performance, there remains more to do across the sector. So it remains important that local authorities continue to review their processes to ensure they are following best practice.  

Our review highlighted several common themes that all organisations should adopt to strengthen their capabilities and stay ahead of emerging challenges. 

1. Communication is key: be open to reduce complaints 

Talking to requesters is often the simplest way to ensure you’re both on the same page. Some requests can be complex, which leads to an increase in workloads. By speaking directly to requesters and offering early clarification, you can better gauge what exactly they’re asking, help to establish plain language and provide proactive updates to make the process smoother. 

Tip: Pick up the phone when needed - explain delays and provide partial disclosures where possible to reduce any unwanted friction. 

2. Be prepared: build resilience and plan for disruption 

Despite rising caseloads, performance in local authorities is generally strong but it can collapse quickly when teams face disruption. Often organisational change, new systems, restructures or staffing gaps can cause dips in performance, therefore we encourage organisations to always plan ahead.   

Tip: Build contingency plans and resource buffers for periods of known disruption and use our organisational change guidance to support smoother transitions. 

3. Write it down: keep consistent records of decisions  

Recording outcomes consistently and analysing patterns can assist you in moving forward.  

Tip: Overturned decisions, for example, may highlight training needs or process gaps, so keep a note of them, refer back to them when appropriate and use them to learn from.  

4. It’s not optional: make FOI training mandatory 

Practitioners often highlight the importance of building a network of people who “get it,” but when someone in that network leaves, it can cause disruption. Introduce mandatory FOI training and refreshers, using existing learning videos and bite sized resources to maintain a consistent baseline of FOI knowledge amongst all staff, not just those in your information rights teams. 

Tip: Our learning resources and training videos are useful tools to kick start your FOI training journey. 

5. Knowledge is power: build strong teams 

We cannot say it enough: staff training is crucial to ensure your wider team is equipped to deal with FOI requests and improve compliance.  

Inadequate training can result in unnecessary apprehension around whether information can or cannot be disclosed – despite the fact that in some instances, that same information is already set to be published in line with local government transparency requirements – this can cause delays.  

Tip: By establishing strong relationships across your organisation and a sense of shared responsibility for FOI compliance, decisions are collaborative and better informed.   

6. Speak up: maintain strong senior leadership support 

Practitioners recognise reporting performance to senior staff as an important factor in a successful FOI strategy. Visual dashboards were specifically identified as key to good communication. 

Tip: By reporting performance statistics weekly for example, you can keep senior staff updated, foster healthy competition between business areas and benchmark your performance against other organisations. 

7. Be transparent: proactive publication is the way forward 

Transparency can be patchy: some authorities publish their FOI and EIR compliance data and themes, others don’t. 

Tip: Publishing regular compliance statistics should be as standard. This builds trust. By keeping detailed records of requests, you can also identify trends including what the public want to know most and publish accordingly, increasing transparency and potentially reducing the amount of requests you receive.  

8. To exempt or not to exempt: use exemption powers confidently but carefully 

Focus on getting the basics right - personal data, commercial interests and law enforcement exemptions are where we most often disagree with public authorities when applying exemptions. 

Tip: If you do use an exemption, document your decisions well. Ensure your rationale is clear and robust. Our guidance on requests for personal data, and on the prejudice test will be particularly useful for Local Government practitioners. 

9. What’s ours is yours: make better use of existing ICO resources 

We have an array of products at your disposal, including: 

• bitesized resources,  

• decision notice learning points,  

• tribunal learning points,  

• and key questions for public authorities - so utilise them! 

Tip: In addition to our resources, you too can create internal quick links or curate resource packs to make key materials easier to locate for people both in and outside of your organisation. Also consider training and workshops where knowledge gaps persist. 

10. Finally, celebrate the positives: complaint rates are low

The overall picture is strong: internal review rates are reasonably low with few complaints having to be escalated to the ICO.  

Tip: Make sure you keep it this way! By implementing good practice, training staff and having open communication with requesters, you can feel satisfied that you’re doing a good job. 

And remember: the ICO supports public authorities to get FOI right - but we have a duty to step in when organisations fall short of their legal obligations.  

For example, we recently issued an enforcement notice to Cumberland Council for failing to act on a previously issued practice recommendation to improve its FOI response times. 

This is just one of several regulatory tools we use to keep openness and transparency on track, and we will continue working with and supporting local authorities to navigate better FOI compliance moving forward.