13 September 2021
REF: IR-01-21-26522
Marcus
[FYI request #16580 email]
Dear Marcus
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated
30 August 2021 regarding OIA statistics. You requested:
I would like to request a list of Official Information Act requests ranging
from 1st January 2020 through 31st August 2021 where some or all of the
information requested was withheld and/or redacted under Section 6 (all
subsections)
In particular, I would like to receive a table with three columns: The date
that the OIA response was issued, a brief one liner summary explaining
the broad topic in question and the cited section(s) that the OIA was
refused under
Here's an example of how this has looked in the past:
06/04/2016, Communications regarding the 2016 US Presidential
Election, 6(a)
Ideally I'd like to receive this as a spreadsheet but you're welcome to
provide the data in whichever format is easiest for you as I'll be
reformatting it anyway.
The primary system New Zealand Police utilise to log, manage and monitor
requests received under the OIA is the Information Request Tool (IRT). While IRT
is the primary recording system utilised, three categories of requests which are
answered under the OIA (Traffic Crash Reports, Speed Camera information
requests, and Media requests) are recorded elsewhere.
In all instances, withholding grounds for Police OIA responses are recorded in the
response documents. While IRT records a response outcome category,
(specifying whether the request was released in full, released in part, or refused
in full), none of the OIA management systems used by Police captures
withholding grounds.
Police systems used to manage OIA requests do not record the level of detail you
have requested. Provision of a topic summary and breakdown of withdrawal
reasons for the period you have defined would require a manual search through
documentation for each request responded to by Police. Police responded to
more than 40,000 OIA requests in the first six months of 2021.
Your request is therefore refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as the
information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or
research.
If you have any questions, you may contac
t [email address].
You have the right, under section 28(3) of the OIA, to ask the Ombudsman to
review my decision if you are not satisfied with the way I have responded to your
request.
Yours sincerely
Lee Hodgson
Director Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters
