From b67d819d3cedc999bd03e6b07eaf0a084745b3e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mark Longair Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2013 17:10:32 +0100 Subject: Rename the .rhtml files to .html.erb for Rails 3 --- lib/views/help/officers.rhtml | 247 ------------------------------------------ 1 file changed, 247 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 lib/views/help/officers.rhtml (limited to 'lib/views/help/officers.rhtml') diff --git a/lib/views/help/officers.rhtml b/lib/views/help/officers.rhtml deleted file mode 100644 index 6636fef..0000000 --- a/lib/views/help/officers.rhtml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,247 +0,0 @@ -<% @title = "FOI officer questions" %> - -<%= render :partial => 'sidebar' %> -
- -

<%= @title %> #

- -
- -
I just got here from bottom of an FOI request, what is going on? #
- -

<%= site_name %> is a service run by a charity. It helps ordinary members -of the public make FOI requests, and easily track and share the responses.

- -

The FOI request you received was made by someone using <%= site_name %>. You can -simply reply to the request as you would any other request from an individual. -The only difference is that your response will be automatically published on -the Internet. -

-

If you have privacy or other concerns, please read the answers below. -You might also like to read the introduction to <%= site_name %> to find out more about what -the site does from the point of view of a user. You can also search the -site to find the authority that you work for, and view the status of -any requests made using the site. - -

Finally, we welcome comments and -thoughts from FOI officers, please get in touch. -

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- -
Why are you publishing responses to FOI requests? #
- -
We think there are lots of benefits. Most importantly it will encourage the -public to be more interested and involved in the work of government. We -also hope that it will reduce the number of duplicate requests on any -subject that a public body will receive. Given that Freedom of Information -responses contain public information, which anybody could easily request -again from the public authority, we think there should be no reason not to -publish it widely. -
- -
Are the people making requests real people? #
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Yes. For the purposes of keeping track of responses we use -computer-generated email addresses for each request. However, before -they can send a request, each user must register on the site with a -unique email address that we then verify. You can search this site and -find a page listing all requests that each person has made. -
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An email isn't a sufficient address for an FOI request! #
- -
Yes it is. This -letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives guidance on the matter, specifically -in the context of requests made via <%= site_name %>. -
- -
Aren't you making lots of vexatious requests? #
- -

<%= site_name %> is not making any requests. We are sending requests on -behalf of our users, who are real people making the requests.

-

Look at it like this - if lots of different people made requests from -different Hotmail email addresses, then you would not think that Microsoft were -making vexatious requests. It is exactly the same if lots of requests are made -via <%= site_name %>. Moreover, since all requests are public it is much easier -for you to see if one of our users is making vexatious requests.

-

If that isn't enough for you, the -letter from the ICO to Rother District Council gives some guidance on the matter.

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- -
I can see a request on <%= site_name %>, but we never got it by email!#
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If a request appears on the site, then we have attempted to send it to -the authority by email. Any delivery failure messages will automatically -appear on the site. You can check the address we're using with the "View FOI -email address" link which appears on the page for the authority. Contact us if there is a better address we can -use.

-

Requests are sometimes not delivered because they are quietly removed by -"spam filters" in the IT department of the authority. Authorities can make -sure this doesn't happen by asking their IT departments to "whitelist" -any email from @<%= Configuration::incoming_email_domain %>. -If you ask us we will resend any request, -and/or give technical details of delivery so an IT department can chase -up what happened to the message. -

-

Finally, you can respond to any request from your web browser, without -needing any email, using the "respond to request" link at the bottom of -each request page. -

- -
How do you calculate the deadline shown on request pages?#
- -
-

The Freedom of Information Act says:

- -

A public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and -in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of -receipt.

- -

The nerdy detail of exactly how weekends are counted, and what happens if -the request arrives out of office hours, is just that - detail. What matters -here is that the law says authorities must respond promptly.

- -

If you've got a good reason why the request is going to take a while to -process, requesters find it really helpful if you can send a quick email with a -sentence or two saying what is happening.

- -

FOI officers often have to do a lot of hard work to answer -requests, and this is hidden from the public. We think it would help everyone -to have more of that complexity visible.

- -
- -
But really, how do you calculate the deadline?#
- -
- -

Please read the answer to the previous question first. Legally, authorities -must respond promptly to FOI requests. If they fail to do that, -it is best if they show the hard work they are doing by explaining what is -taking the extra time to do. -

- -

That said, <%= site_name %> does show the maximum legal deadline -for response on each request. Here's how we calculate it.

- -
    - -
  • If the day we deliver the request by email is a working day, we count that -as "day zero", even if it was delivered late in the evening. Days end at -midnight. We then count the next working day as "day one", and so on up to -20 working days.
    • - -
  • If the day the request email was delivered was a non-working day, we count -the next working day as "day one". Delivery is delivery, even if it happened on -the weekend. Some authorities disagree with this, our lawyer disagrees with them.
    • - -
  • Requesters are encouraged to mark when they have clarified -their request so the clock resets, but sometimes they get this wrong. If you -see a problem with a particular request, let us know and we'll fix it.
    • -
- -

The date thus calculated is shown on requests with the text "By law, -Liverpool City Council should normally have responded by...". There is only -one case which is not normal, see the next question about -public interest test time extensions. -

- -

Schools are also a special case, which <%= site_name %> displays differently. -

- -
    -
  • Since June 2009, schools have "20 working days -disregarding any working day which is not a school day, or 60 working days, -whichever is first" (FOI (Time for Compliance with Request) Regulations 2009). <%= site_name %> indicates on requests to schools that the 20 day deadline is only -during term time, and shows them as definitely overdue after 60 working days -
    • -
- -

If you're getting really nerdy about all this, read the detailed ICO guidance. -Meanwhile, remember that the law says authorities must respond -promptly. That's really what matters.

- -
- -
How do you reflect time extensions for public interest tests?#
- -
- -

The Freedom of Information Act lets authorities claim an indefinite time -extension when applying a public interest test. Information -Commissioner guidance says that it should only be used in "exceptionally -complex" cases -(FOI Good Practice Guidance No. 4). -<%= site_name %> doesn't specifically handle this case, which is why we use the -phrase "should normally have responded by" when the 20 working day time is -exceeded. -

- -

The same guidance says that, even in exceptionally complex cases, no -Freedom of Information request should take more than 40 working days -to answer. <%= site_name %> displays requests which are overdue by that much -with stronger wording to indicate they are definitely late. -

- -

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act does not allow such a public -interest extension. <%= site_name %> would like to see the law changed to either -remove the extension from the UK Act, or to reintroduce an absolute time limit -of 40 working days even with the extension (the House of Lords voted -to remove provision for such a time limit during the initial passage -of the UK Act through Parliament). -

-
- -
How can I send a large file, which won't go by email?#
- -
Instead of email, you can respond to a request directly from your web -browser, including uploading a file. To do this, choose "respond to request" at -the bottom of the request's page. Contact us if it -is too big for even that (more than, say, 50Mb). -
- -
Why do you publish the names of civil servants and the text of emails? #
- -
We consider what officers or servants do in the course of their employment -to be public information. We will only remove content in exceptional -circumstances, see our take down policy. -
- -
Do you publish email addresses or mobile phone numbers? #
- -

To prevent spam, we automatically remove most emails and some mobile numbers from -responses to requests. Please contact us if we've -missed one. -For technical reasons we don't always remove them from attachments, such as certain PDFs.

-

If you need to know what an address was that we've removed, please get in touch with us. Occasionally, an email address -forms an important part of a response and we will post it up in an obscured -form in an annotation. -

- - - -
Our Freedom of Information law is "applicant blind", so anyone in the -world can request the same document and get a copy of it. - -If you think our making a document available on the internet infringes your -copyright, you may contact us and ask us -to take it down. However, to save tax payers' money by preventing duplicate -requests, and for good public relations, we'd advise you not to do that. -
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If you haven't already, read the introduction --> -
Otherwise, the credits or the programmers API --> - -

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