Purpose

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources detailing the Freedom of Information, Data Protection and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act: Annual Review 2024-25.

Decision

(i)  To note the statistical information for the year 1 st April 2024 – 31st March 2025 reporting on the Council’s performance relating to:

 · FOIA and associated legislation

· GDPR

· RIPA 2000

(ii)  To agree the updated Corporate Surveillance document (April 2025)) attached at appendix 1

(iii)  To note progress against actions agreed in September 2024 to drive up performance and to agree the further actions recommended at paragraph 22

Reasons for the decision

To keep Members informed as to the impact of the legislation to the Council, the type and nature of information requests and resources deployed to respond to them and to detail the form and type of information requests received in 2024-25 to monitor and demonstrate continued performance improvement activity.

Alternative options considered

The alternative to bringing this report before members is to not report the yearly analysis. This was rejected because it is considered to be good governance to report such matters to Members, provides an audit trail to demonstrate to the Information Commissioner that the Council has a robust structure in place to comply with the legislation, and to maintain the profile of information law requirements, track the matters that have generated public interest over the past year to inform service decisions and resource implication within the organisation.