scholarlystats won't push Sushi off the usage menu.(Brief article)

Byline: Kim Thomas

Universities have risen to the challenge of the Freedom of Information Act, meeting 96% of requests within the statutory 20 working days, according to a new survey.

From January 2005, when the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act came into force, to October 2005, the 76 institutions that completed the survey received 2,086 requests under the act -- an average of 27 each.

The requests came in evenly throughout the year, according to Steve Bailey, records and information manager at the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). On average, two to three people were involved in handling each request. Most requests were dealt with quickly, although 26% took from 15 to 20 days to respond to.

The single largest category of request (20% of the total) concerned university management and administration. HR issues were the second most common concern. Bailey said many of the HR requests were dealt with under the Data Protection Act.