Information Commissioner’s PATI 2015 Report

Information Commissioner Gitanjali S. Gutierrez submitted her first Annual Report for the first ten months of the Public Access to Information [PATI] Act, with the Annual Report covering the period from 1 April to 31 December 2015.

The statement released with the report said, “Our Annual Report provides a snapshot of the first ten months of the PATI Act. We knew that the public and public authorities are interested in information about the early use of the Act.

“This is also the first opportunity the Information Commissioner and our staff have had to share our vision for building a new institution to support the democratic process and good governance.

“The Annual Report explains how the Information Commissioner seeks to establish a long-lasting, independent office to provide robust and fair oversight of the PATI Act. It also sets out clearly the Information Commissioner’s Key Performance Indicators for 2016, giving everyone a sense of the work we are setting out to accomplish.

“The Annual Report includes the 2015 statistics that were reported by public authorities to the Information Commissioner. As noted in the Annual Report, statistical returns were received by most, but not every, public authority.

“The Information Commissioner will continue to work with public authorities to obtain complete statistical information for 2015, and will report on the final 2015 data in the 2016 Annual Report.

“The 2015 Annual Report provides a helpful snapshot of 2015 based upon the reports received:

• The first reported PATI request was received on 1 April 2015 by the Planning Department and full access was granted.
• From 1 April to 31 December 2015, public authorities reported receiving over 102 PATI requests.
• Of these 102 PATI requests:
  • 23 were refused in whole,
  • 16 had access granted in part,
  • 34 had access granted in whole, and
  • 29 had a decision pending as of 31 December.
• Public authorities reported a total of 11 requests for an internal review [an internal appeal ] to be decided by the head of the authority:
  • 8 internal review decisions refused access in whole or in part,
  • 1 internal review decision granted access in whole, and
  • 2 internal review decisions were still pending as of 31 December 2015.
• The Information Commissioner’s Office received 11 applications for an independent review by the Information Commissioner in 2015:
  • 4 of the independent reviews were closed [one was settled and three came to the Information Commissioner too early], and
  • 7 reviews are pending as of 31 December 2015.
• The final reported PATI request was received by the Department of Marine and Ports on 24 December [and eventually in 2016 partial access was granted].
• The Annual Report also includes information about which exemptions and grounds for administrative denial the public authorities relied upon to deny access to records.

“The Annual Report also includes an overview of the ICO’s public education outreach, both for traditional educational programs and social media outreach. The Office held twelve education programs for community and professional groups, as well as the general public. The ICO’s social media campaigns and online presence directly reached 27,864 individuals in 2015.

“Other highlights of the Annual Report include discussion of developments in our information rights law that could further the aims of the PATI Act, an overview of the review process before the Information Commissioner, and a summary of the 2015 work done by the Information Commissioner to provide guidance to public authorities and responses to inquiries from the public and public authorities.

“The 2015 Annual Report also has appended the Information Commissioner’s Investigation Report concerning the Ministry of Public Works and the Department of Works and Engineering’s practices and procedures to achieve compliance with its obligations under the PATI Act.

“Specifically, the Information Commissioner made eight practice recommendations focused upon providing adequate support, resources, and requirements within public authorities to safeguard a requester’s confidentiality.”

“Copies of the Annual Report are available at www.ico.bm or by emailing a request for a copy to info@ico.bm. Limited copies will be made available from our Office at the Valerie T. Scott Building, 60 Reid Street, Hamilton on 23 March 2016.”

The 46-page Information Commisioner’s Office Annual Report 2015 follows below [PDF here]:

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