Survey reveals pressures on higher education sector for information
Higher education institutions are responding successfully to demands being placed on them by Freedom of Information legislation, research shows.
A survey of UK institutions revealed that around two-thirds of requests made for information in the first year of the Freedom of Information Act have been fulfilled.
The survey by the Joint Information Systems Committee, Universities UK and the Standing Conference on Principles (SCOP) was conducted to establish how the sector has coped with the act, which came into effect at the beginning of 2005.
It found that 63 per cent of requests for information had been answered in full, and that, at 467, journalists made the largest number of requests, accounting for 45 per cent of inquiries made.
The highest number of requests – 386 – made related to information on university management and administration, followed by human resource issues – 314 – and financial information – 266.
Respondents to the survey said the most time consuming aspect of dealing with an inquiry was in locating and accessing the information requested by the inquirer, while a quarter of respondents said that each inquiry took on average four members of staff to process.
Diana Warwick, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said: "This survey shows an impressive speed of response to FOI requests by [Higher Education Institutions] HEIs despite the fact that the resources to deal with them have largely been found from within existing structures.
"Despite the inevitable disruption to normal business that FOI requests bring with them, it is clear that HEIs are open and transparent in their business and have made provision to ensure that this continues to be the case."
Dr Malcolm Read, Executive Secretary of JISC, welcomed the survey results, saying: "These results show that while higher education institutions are having to invest significant resources to ensure compliance with the Act, they are also discharging their responsibilities positively and effectively."
View the survey results here.
