Introduction

One of the problems with regulating any activity is that it can become an exercise in compliance. Organisations adopt a ‘tick box mentality’, which can get in the way of what the legislation is trying to achieve. FOI is no different.

FOI laws are essentially about customer relations. Remember that one of the aims of the FOIA was ‘to increase trust in public authorities’. It has been said that this was an unrealistic target for legislation, but perhaps it isn't for individual public authorities, and in particular for individual FOI officers. Laws don't increase trust – people do. Providing FOI is a public service, and FOI officers should aim to deliver it well and positively.

Some public officials balk at the phrase ‘customer service’. Whatever they are called – customers, members of the public, citizens – if they make an FOI request, they are asking our authority to deliver a service. This is no different from any other service that a public authority might provide, whether it relates to housing, education, health care, record offices or libraries. Whatever the law may say about providing these services, they are much more likely to work well and be appreciated by those they are being provided to if public authorities consider the needs of those they are interacting with. In other words, if they aim to provide a good service to their customers.

The way that FOI officers and their colleagues communicate with the public is therefore important. In some situations, the manner in which a public authority engages with applicants may be of more significance than whether the information requested is ultimately provided.

Think of the points at which contact is made with the public as an opportunity; it could be to try to shut down an issue, to use clever language to avoid having to disclose something, or to make clear to someone that exercising their rights is considered a waste of the authority's time and resources. This is unlikely to leave the applicant with a positive opinion of the organisation or its employees. On the other hand, an FOI officer can use their contact with the public to demonstrate their professionalism, to show off the authority at its best, to win over a critic.