Official information LGOIMA time to reply

Hemant made this Official Information request to Auckland Transport

The request was refused by Auckland Transport.

From: Hemant

Dear Auckland Transport,

Can I please get a list in excel or csv format of three columns the received date of all LGOIMA requests over the last two years and the date that the request was fulfilled and the title of each request.

Yours faithfully,

Hemant

Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport


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Dear Hemant

 

We acknowledge receipt of your request for official information dated 10
July 2018 requesting the following information:

 

Can I please get a  list in excel or csv format of three columns the
received date of all LGOIMA requests over the last two years and the date
that the request was fulfilled and the title of each request.

 

At the outset, we sincerely apologise for the delay in acknowledging your
request.

 

We are processing your request according to the provisions of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. You will receive a
response within 20 working days after the receipt of your request by
Auckland Transport, as required by the Act. The expected due date for a
response is 7 August 2018.  Please note this is the maximum response time
and we will endeavour to respond to you sooner.

 

If you have any further queries, please contact me on (09) 355 3553 during
business hours, quoting Local Government Official Information request
number CAS-815159-C3H4V0.

 

Kind regards

 

Deepa Pathak | Customer Liaison Advisor [3]Description: Description:
Description: Description:
LGOIMA Portfolio | Customer Liaison Team Description: Description:
20 Viaduct Harbour Ave, Auckland 1010 Description: Description:
Description: Description:
P 09 355 3553   Description: Email-Signature

E [1][email address] or
[2][email address]

Working together to create an awesome journey
–first time, every time

[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D238E0.86F57A30[5]cid:image003.jpg@01D238E0.86F57A30 [6]cid:image004.jpg@01D238E0.86F57A30 [7]cid:image005.jpg@01D238E0.86F57A30[8]cid:image006.jpg@01D238E0.86F57A30

Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.

References

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2. mailto:[email address]
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Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport


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Dear Hemant

 

I refer to your official information request dated 10 July 2018 for a
record of all LGOIMA requests over the last two years by date received,
date fulfilled and title.

 

Firstly, please allow me to apologise for the delayed response.

 

The LGOIMA enables people to request official information from local
government agencies, including Auckland Transport (‘AT’). However, the
LGOIMA only applies to information that is already held by AT. There is no
obligation on AT to create information in order to respond to a request.

 

The information you are seeking in this case is not held by AT but would
need to be created in order to respond to your request.  Your request
would require AT to manually review over 1800 requests to extract the
title from each record as this level of detail isn’t currently held.   

 

I am therefore refusing your request under section 17(g) of the LGOIMA,
because AT does not hold any official information.

 

I am, however, able to advise that we are currently looking into improving
our reporting capabilities which should allow for such requests to be
fulfilled in the future.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Kind regards

 

Susana Fuiono | Customer Liaison Advisor [6]Description:
Description: Description:
LGOIMA & Privacy Portfolio | Customer Liaison Description: Description:
Team Description: Description:
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142 Description: Description:
Description: Description:
P   09 355 3553 Email-Signature

E   [2][email address] or
[3][email address]

[4]www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz |
[5]www.AT.govt.nz

Working together to create an awesome journey
–first time, every time

 

 

Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz/
5. http://www.at.govt.nz/

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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()

This is a ridiculous justification for refusing your request. If it were true that the information you had requested does not exist, then it would be impossible for Auckland Transport to extract it by manually reviewing over 1,800 requests as they said would be necessary.

Collating information is not the same as creating information, yet Auckland Transport seems to be saying here that the fact they are not obliged to create information in response to a request also means they are not obliged to collate information.

Though they may well be justified in refusing this request on the basis that "the information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or research" (section 17(f) of the LGOIMA), this is not the justification that they have used.

I can't help but wonder if they haven't used that justification as it would clearly open the way for a follow-up request with a more restricted time span, which couldn't be refused under section 17(f).

I'd recommend you lay a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman about this refusal.

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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()

Since this request was refused, the Office of the Ombudsman has published a guidance document on "Information not held" that is pretty explicit in clarifying that responses like this are not justified: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/syste...

See page 10, "Creation vs collation":

"[T]here is no obligation to create information in order to respond to a request. However, there is an obligation to collate information that is already held."

The document explains what does and doesn't qualify as creating information, and from my interpretation what NZTA has refused to do here is clearly collation.

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