FOI - Being forced to be the Decision Maker but have had no training

D13exile

I was recently passed a request for info under the FOI Act and told that I had to be the "Decision Maker". In the first instance, I have not had any FOI training whatsoever. Furthermore, the personnel involved in this matter have advised that they will be taking legal action against my employer and thus this is very likely to end up in Court and any papers that I may release/refuse to be released will be based on a best guess and not on informed understanding of FOI.

The added complication is that I am personal friends with the subject matter (which management is aware of) and I feel I should not have been placed in this position.

I have pointed this out several times to my employer but they are ordering me to make the decision on what papers to release. Is there a basis for me refusing to be the decision maker as senior management are now on my case.

banie01

As its an FOI request is it safe to assume that your in state or semi-state employment?

Before any advice is offered on the appropriate course of action, have you spoken to a Union Rep?

D13exile

banie01 wrote: »

As its an FOI request is it safe to assume that your in state or semi-state employment?

Before any advice is offered on the appropriate course of action, have you spoken to a Union Rep?

Yes it is a State office.

I'm not in a union but feel I have no choice but to seek advice from them now.

80j2lc5y7u6qs9

D13exile wrote: »

Yes it is a State office.

I'm not in a union but feel I have no choice but to seek advice from them now.

https://foi.gov.ie/


you may get advice from above. The situation you are in appears to put you and the requester at a disadvantage


I mistakenly posted this as a visitor message to your profile. Must have hit wrong link. Sorry

banie01

D13exile wrote: »

Yes it is a State office.

I'm not in a union but feel I have no choice but to seek advice from them now.

1st thing I'd do in your shoes is have a look at the FOI policy for your office and try to ascertain precisely who the Data Controller is.

That your manager has decided it's you out of the blue it seems is quite surprising, and is likely at odds with the policy laid out.

I would be minded to ask how a government office can reasonably function without either someone operating directly in the DPO role, or with at the very least support and direction from a DPO in an alternate office.

It is not the kind of task you can drop in someone's lap on an ad hoc basis.

nuac

Mod
As Banie10 says.
If you do agree to take on any FOI duties demand appropriate training and monitoring

Vetch

Another possible option is if your office belongs to a bigger dept of some sort which has an appointed FOI Officer. It's a bit odd that there's no one appointed in your office as FOI has been around with so long, unless an appointee left.

D13exile

Thanks to all for the advice.

We have a central FOI unit but they operate as a post office for FOI requests and just take them in and farm them out to the relevant office. I have pointed out ad nauseum to management that I have had no FOI training nor have I ever been involved in one but they insist that I be the "decision maker". I feel this is grossly unfair to me as I cannot carry out the process in a competent manner, nor to the journalist requesting the records as I will naturally err on the side of caution when it comes to deciding what records to release.

I came from the private sector where full training is given to enable a person to do their job to the best of their ability. The civil service has a slap dash approach to training imho even when it comes to important issues such as FOI and Data Protection.

I've notified management that I have done my best with reviewing the records but once again I pointed out that I have no FOI training and that a competent person must review prior to release. Their answer......."you are the Decision maker". Talk about falling on deaf ears.

Claw Hammer

Why are you not in a union? That is what they are for, representing you in a situation where you are being bullied. The Civil service theory is that anyone can do any job, training or not. Nobody on boards is going to solve the problem for you.

Carawaystick

Release the docs, and they won't ask you to do it again...

GarIT

Or the opposite. Decide that it is not appropriate to release anything and let them get sued

Glass fused light

D13exile wrote: »

...
I've notified management that I have done my best with reviewing the records but once again I pointed out that I have no FOI training and that a competent person must review prior to release. Their answer......."you are the Decision maker". Talk about falling on deaf ears.

Is this the first FOI request they have ever receive or is there history you need to find out about as to why they are giving this to you?

As above look at the FOI policy but also what you need to do as you are now aware of potential litigation. In this situation I would bypass your management and go directly to the a FOI central unit manager and the head of Legal in your organisation.

Ask the FOI department for a mentor as you need 'assistance' in the process and proceedures.

Assume that this is going to court. You should prepare the file on the basis of you giving to give evidence at a future date. I would do a log of the events which resulted on you being given the task, plus for each data set the reasoning on the decisions you made on every bit if data you review ( and as a court date could be 4-5 years out I would suggest that you think about the need to hold an independent copy of this. But no personal data goes off site and you would need to be very considered in how you set up the file so that you can do this without breaching your employment contract or data protection rules).

Make sure that you have written communication on everything your manager has instructed you to do and your communication back about your lack of training and knowing the subject of the request in a personal capacity. If they are playing "nothing in writing" always do the further to our meeting/discussion memo and specifically request that they come back to you to correct any errors or points of disagreement. NB always reference the FOI request details as this is now part of the official data which needs to be managed in respect of the FOI request.

For the decision log
I would lay out the reply as
Section A
first item FOI request,
Receive date and response time requirement
And communications back requesting an extension in time
Etc
Section B
second item your communication with your managers and other internal people
( its going to court Memo everything)
Section C
The FOI policy and a list of why items would qualify to be withheld.
Without specific training the assumption I would run with is that everything is covered and only specific items can be withheld
section D
Data to be issued per the request
Catalogue each data set and then do a cover sheet with generic description of data and the reason that the data was included
Any redactions needed and why
Section E
Data to be withheld.
For each data set again do a cover sheet with generic description of data and the reason that the data was not included.

Once done I would send the file to the Legal team and request a review for items that fall into confidential due to pending litigation. And note the time restraints and cc to the FOI central section.

cbreeze

You can withhold documents if you feel it affects the decision making process of the institution. But it is best to release as many as you can. Make sure the request is valid, citing which sections of the Act they apply under.

The requester has a right of appeal to a more senior member of the organisation, and they have to be so advised. Ultimately if there is an appeal those further up the line are responsible for dealing with it

Copy your FOI Officer/Data Controller with your draft response which should include a schedule of documents, those you release and those you don't and give reasons, citing the sections of the Act.

If you have to redact any make sure you run the black marker over the text before copying, because if you just send the redacted documents as marked it will be easy to make out what you have redacted.

If you only hold a copy of any material which might be held elsewhere in the organisation, shred it and request the holding office to produce it.

Glass fused light

cbreeze wrote: »

If you have to redact any make sure you run the black marker over the text before copying, because if you just send the redacted documents as marked it will be easy to make out what you have redacted.

CBreeze You have done this ^^^ before

OP photocopy original, redact and rephotocopy
Give your boss a heart attack by placing the redacted ones in the front of the file.

cbreeze wrote: »

If you only hold a copy of any material which might be held elsewhere in the organisation, shred it and request the holding office to produce it.

Dont shred or destroy anything connected to this request, no way do you want to be in court saying you shreded anything to do with this. Destroying data should only be done by authorised people in accordance with the written policy and legal obligations. In some cases it can be a criminal offence to distroy "State papers"

But its a good point dont assume the copy you have is the final one. So do request copies of the originals from the holding office to verify they are correct and up to date and if needed get them to provide and edit log of the date of any changes