OIA response time statistics clarification
Mark Hanna made this Official Information request to Department of Corrections
The request was successful.
From: Mark Hanna
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your response last month to my request about OIA response time statistics (ref C95340). I have a question about the data that’s been released which I hope you’ll be able to clarify for me.
In the statistics published for this period by the State Services Commission, it is reported that the Department of Corrections completed 1,906 OIA requests during the period of 1 July - 31 December 2017. Also, the response letter accompanying the spreadsheet released to me last month mentioned that Corrections sent 1,937 OIA responses in this period.
However, the spreadsheet released to me last month details well over 3,000 OIA requests completed by the Department of Corrections during this period.
Could you please explain to me the source of this difference, and which number is correct?
Also, I’d like to reiterate my request that you please provide all information in an accessible, searchable format. The response letter sent on 2018/05/28 was an image-based PDF, which is an inaccessible format that does not work with screen readers and does not allow for text to be searched or copied.
In recent months I have emailed the Minister for Disability Issues about the issue of inaccessible OIA responses, and she responded with the message that “Providing OIA responses in accessible format should be standard practice as part of an open and transparent government”.
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Department of Corrections; this is an
automatic reply to confirm we have received your email – please do not
reply to this e mail.
Depending on the nature of your request you may not receive an official
response for up to 20 working days.
Be assured we will endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible.
If you are a friend or family member of someone in prison, you can find
some useful information [1]here.
If you are requesting information we are required to comply with the
Privacy Act 1993, the Official Information Act 1982 and the Victims Rights
Act 2002.
Unless you are the victim of a serious crime, or there are safety reasons,
we are required to ask the offender for their permission to release their
information to you. If you do not want the offender to know you are
asking about them, please let us know as soon as possible.
If you are a victim, you will find information about the Victim
Notification Register on our website [2]here.
Our website, [3]http://www.corrections.govt.nz/ provides up to date news
and information about our work, you can also follow us on [4]Facebook and
[5]Twitter.
Kind regards,
The Ministerial Services Team
[6][Department of Corrections request email]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The
information in this message is the property of the New Zealand Department
of Corrections. It is intended only for the person or entity to which it
is addressed and may contain privileged or in confidence material. Any
review, storage, copying, editing, summarising, transmission,
retransmission, dissemination or other use of, by any means, in whole or
part, or taking any action in reliance upon, this information by persons
or entities other than intended recipient are prohibited. If you received
this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all
computers.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/working_w...
2. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/informati...
3. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/
4. https://www.facebook.com/CorrectionsNZ/
5. https://twitter.com/correctionsnz
6. mailto:[Department of Corrections request email]
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
Mark Hanna C97170 Response.pdf
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OIAs sent 1 July 2017 30 December 2017.xlsx
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Dear Mr Hanna,
Please find attached Corrections response to your email of 14 June 2018.
Kind regards,
Ministerial Services
Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Mayfair House | 44-52 The Terrace | Private Box 1206 | Wellington
show quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your response to my request yesterday. Could you please clarify what “general correspondence”, which you’ve identified as the source of the extra data sent to me originally, covers? Did the Department of Corrections respond to 1,700 messages during this period that didn’t request any official information?
I was surprised to see that, comparing the response times to both general correspondence and OIA requests and the those in the updated data for OIA requests only, it looks like the difference (which I expect would be data for general correspondence only) contains a lot of responses sent 20 working days after the correspondence was received.
The pattern of response times for this general correspondence appears similar to what I’ve observed in OIA response times of other agencies, whereas the new OIA data you have sent through looks quite different to the same data from other agencies.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate, I just feel like I don’t yet understand the difference very well between the initial data I was sent and the corrected data released yesterday.
I’m also somewhat surprised that general correspondence appears to have been extended at a similar rate to OIA requests, as the initial data set appeared to contain 106 extended requests whereas the updated one contains 53. Does the Department of Corrections have an internal process for extending correspondence due dates similar to the process laid out for requests in the OIA?
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Department of Corrections; this is an
automatic reply to confirm we have received your email – please do not
reply to this e mail.
Depending on the nature of your request you may not receive an official
response for up to 20 working days.
Be assured we will endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible.
If you are a friend or family member of someone in prison, you can find
some useful information [1]here.
If you are requesting information we are required to comply with the
Privacy Act 1993, the Official Information Act 1982 and the Victims Rights
Act 2002.
Unless you are the victim of a serious crime, or there are safety reasons,
we are required to ask the offender for their permission to release their
information to you. If you do not want the offender to know you are
asking about them, please let us know as soon as possible.
If you are a victim, you will find information about the Victim
Notification Register on our website [2]here.
Our website, [3]http://www.corrections.govt.nz/ provides up to date news
and information about our work, you can also follow us on [4]Facebook and
[5]Twitter.
Kind regards,
The Ministerial Services Team
[6][Department of Corrections request email]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The
information in this message is the property of the New Zealand Department
of Corrections. It is intended only for the person or entity to which it
is addressed and may contain privileged or in confidence material. Any
review, storage, copying, editing, summarising, transmission,
retransmission, dissemination or other use of, by any means, in whole or
part, or taking any action in reliance upon, this information by persons
or entities other than intended recipient are prohibited. If you received
this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all
computers.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/working_w...
2. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/informati...
3. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/
4. https://www.facebook.com/CorrectionsNZ/
5. https://twitter.com/correctionsnz
6. mailto:[Department of Corrections request email]
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
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Dear Mark
Thank you for your email of 12 July 2018 requesting further
information/clarification relating to OIA response time statistics.
Please be advised your request has been received, and will be considered
under the Official Information Act 1982.
Kind regards
Lysa
Ministerial Services
Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Mayfair House | 44-52 The Terrace | Private Box 1206 | Wellington
[1]1 [2]4,3,2
show quoted sections
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
Dear Mr Hanna,
Please find attached Corrections response to your request.
Please find below the link that is referred to in the attached response.
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/as...
Kind regards,
Ministerial Services
Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Mayfair House | 44-52 The Terrace | Private Box 1206 | Wellington
show quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your response. I see, on page 104 of the 2016/17 annual report, the table notes that "media enquiries" are not included in the category of "Official Information Act (OIA) requests".
Requests for official information are equally covered under the OIA regardless of whether or not the requester is a member of the media. Can you please clarify for me whether or not OIA requests received from the media were included in the statistics that have been released to me?
If they were excluded, can you please explain why they were excluded, and why their exclusion was not noted in previous responses?
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
From: Mark Hanna
Tēnā koe,
Just a reminder that today marks 20 working days since Corrections received my questions regarding the potential exclusion of OIA requests from the media in statistics released in response to my earlier request (ref C97170). As such, a response is due today at the latest.
If Corrections has a good reason that these questions require more than 20 working days to answer, and intends to send me a notice of extension under 15A of the OIA, that is also due today at the very latest.
For your convenience, I have included my previous message from 2018-07-31 at the bottom of this email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
==========
From: Mark Hanna
July 31, 2018
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your response. I see, on page 104 of the 2016/17 annual report, the table notes that "media enquiries" are not included in the category of "Official Information Act (OIA) requests".
Requests for official information are equally covered under the OIA regardless of whether or not the requester is a member of the media. Can you please clarify for me whether or not OIA requests received from the media were included in the statistics that have been released to me?
If they were excluded, can you please explain why they were excluded, and why their exclusion was not noted in previous responses?
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
From: Info@Corrections
Department of Corrections
image001.jpg
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Mark Hanna C98719 Response.pdf
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Dear Mr Hanna,
Please find attached a response to your OIA request.
Kind regards,
Ministerial Services
Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Mayfair House | 44-52 The Terrace | Private Box 1206 | Wellington
[1]1 [2]4,3,2
show quoted sections
From: Mark Hanna
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your response, that answers my questions perfectly.
Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna
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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
Here's a link to the original request I am following up here: https://fyi.org.nz/request/7622-oia-resp...
Link to this