Annual Report: 2003-2004

Status report on access requests in a deemed-refusal situation

l. BACKGROUND

For several years, the Office of the Information Commissioner has received complaints from requesters about requests in a deemed-refusal situation. It is likely that, across government, the number of complaints on requests in a deemed-refusal situation represents only a portion of the actual number of requests processed outside of the time requirements of the Access to Information Act. The unacceptable high level of requests in a deemed-refusal situation has been illustrated in previous Report Cards issued since 1999 by the Commissioner’s Office.

As part of the proactive mandate of the Commissioner’s Office, each year a department (or departments) is selected for review. The review is conducted to determine the extent to which the department is meeting its responsibilities for complying with the statutory timeframes for processing access requests established by the Access to Information Act.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) was one of two departments selected last year for review. The department was subject to review because of evidence of chronic difficulty in meeting response deadlines. When the Commissioner’s Office receives a high number of deemed-refusal complaints about a department, it may be symptomatic of a greater response-deadline problem within the department.

The Information Commissioner has adopted the following standard as being the best measure of a department’s compliance with response deadlines: percentage of requests received which end as deemed refusals. Every department reviewed has been assessed against the following grading standard:

 This Status Report reviews the progress of the department to attain substantial compliance with the time requirements of the Access to Information Act since the initial report. In addition, this report contains information on the status of the recommendations made in the Report Card of January 2003. This then is a report of the review of CSC’s performance statistics for the period April 1 to November 30, 2003.

2. COMPLIANCE HISTORY

In the Report Card of January 2003, it was reported that CSC attained during the reporting period a rating of "F"¹, [the new request to deemed-refusal ratio was 50.6%]. Its performance was unacceptable. Subsequent review indicated that, through to the end of the fiscal year, the final statistics did in fact reflect some improvement to 38.9% of deemed refusals in relation to requests received, although the grading remained an "F".

3. CURRENT STATUS AND FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

The department has made tremendous strides in a number of areas to improve on the previous record. All of these initiatives have led to a remarkable turnaround in the deemed-refusal situation over the past year resulting in ideal compliance with the time requirements of the Access to Information Act. The new request to deemed-refusal ratio improved to 3.2% for the period from April 1 to November 30, 2003, for a grade of "A".

While this gives an accurate assessment of the deemed-refusal ratio to requests received within the above-noted reporting period, it does not take into consideration those requests carried over from the previous year, nor the number of requests already in a deemed-refusal status on April 1. In future reports, these figures will be taken into consideration; however, for this report, the grading resulting from that inclusion is provided for information purposes only. In this instance, the results of deemed refusals from April 1 to November 30, 2003, would be 8.8%, resulting in a grade of "B". How substantial a turnaround this was is evidenced by the following graphs reflecting the last three years’ performance.

CSC followed through on many of the recommendations that were made in the January 2003 Report Card. The measures and incentives that have been put in place and are ongoing include:

• The primary focus as a result of the Report Card was to eliminate the outstanding backlog of 2002-2003 overdue files. This was accomplished.
• Monthly monitoring of requests and reporting to Senior Executives of CSC was implemented.
• ATIPflow upgrade has been implemented as well as delivery of training to ATIP staff relating to the use and data entry into ATIPflow.
  
• Staff increases – since 2000-2001 to the present, staffing levels have increased from 17 indeterminate positions to 30.
  
• Delegation Order adjustments to include the Deputy Director.
• Communications’ requirements are met as a parallel function rather than a sequential step in the access process.
  
• A compliance manual has been developed and delivered to all sectors at the National Headquarters as well as the Regions.
  
• Ongoing weekly meetings between the ATI Liaison Officers and Sector OPIs are held with the Director and Deputy Director.
  
• Internal weekly monitoring of requests in progress.
• ATIP training has been delivered to staff and senior management at the National and Regional Headquarters.
  

3.1. Objective for 2004-2005

While a number of steps have been taken since the Report Card, the department continues to refine its procedures, expand its training and look at additional methods to maintain or improve its overall compliance performance. Some of these include:

• Continued updating of the Guidelines manual as policies or procedures are changed.
  
• Continued and expanded training program for ATIP Division personnel in the application of exemptions and the criteria that must be met to justify recommendations.
  
• Develop a fee policy.
• Continue training within the organization as a whole.

The department has shown a commitment to make changes to support the reduction of access requests in a deemed-refusal situation and achieve ideal compliance with the time requirements of the Access to Information Act. CSC is encouraged to maintain a grade of "A" and set an objective for 2004-2005 of maintaining a request to deemed-refusal ratio of 5% or less.

CSC is continually reviewing its fee structure. With the introduction of copying records to CD rather than paper, paper costs, including postage, have been reduced as well as employee time spent at the photocopier. The introduction of ATIPimage may allow CSC to realize additional savings in human and support resources.

4. STATUS OF 2003 RECOMMENDATIONS

In the January 2003 Report Card, a number of recommendations were made to CSC in an effort to assist the department in turning around its record of compliance to Access to Information Act requests. The actions and measures described above have enabled CSC to fully meet those objectives. A few of the more significant follow-up actions to the January 2003 recommendations have been:

1. The ATIP Director is directly responsible for ensuring compliance with the Access to Information Act and should take a strong leadership role in establishing a culture of compliance throughout CSC. Such a role requires the unwavering support and endorsement of the Minister and the Deputy Minister. Senior management support for the development and monitoring of an ATI Improvement Plan is one method of making a commitment to comply with the time requirements of the Act.
    
2. Routine reporting on planned versus actual time taken to process access requests and the status of measures taken to reduce requests in a deemed-refusal situation should be instituted. The reports will provide senior management, OPIs and the ATIP Division with information needed to gauge overall departmental compliance with the Act’s and department’s time requirements for processing access requests.

Action Taken: A monthly status report to senior management was initiated in April. This report is specific in its detail highlighting not only delays in the process but also where the delay occurs. Through this initiative, which emphasizes compliance requirements and its results, the departmental responses to tasking have improved dramatically, from 74% in April to 95-100% in four of the last five months. This report is then followed up monthly by a letter to the Executive Committee from the Assistant Commissioner responsible for the ATIP division indicating the department’s record for that month. The graphic below reflects the department’s record for this reporting period.

3. The ATIP Division should develop an ATI Training Plan for 2003-2004 for OPIs and ATIP Division staff and incorporate the introduction of the User Manual into the training provided to OPIs.
    
4. ATI training should be mandatory for all new managers as part of their orientation and periodic training updates should be provided to all managers.

Action Taken: Dedicated training visits are now conducted at all five regions, at a two-tier level (line staff and senior managers) as well as throughout
headquarters. The training includes presentations and discussion sessions in which the process manual has been introduced. ATIP training has also been introduced at the Cornwall facilities for all deputy and assistant wardens, focusing on levels of responsibilities, and has become a permanent part of the syllabus.

Ongoing internal training and informal review sessions has been instrumental in bringing all staff to a level of expertise and developing consistency in the application of the Act. With the full support of senior management, resources have increased and staffing has stabilized, allowing for a developmental position as well as a full complement of experienced analysts. As a result of the more balanced workload, morale has also improved. To further enhance the overall situation, ATIPflow has been upgraded, and expanded training has been introduced for all staff and managers as an integral part of case management.

5. The approval process should be process mapped and reviewed to remove steps that do not add value to the process, particularly the allocation of time in the process to the Parliamentary Relations and Communications review. At the same time, the Delegation Order should be reviewed to determine if further delegation is appropriate within the ATIP Division.

Action Taken: A major change incorporated in the process was the parallel integration of the Communications and Parliamentary Affairs involvement at the outset of the review of records by the OPI. This is in contrast to being a specific step in the final approval process. Additionally, minor revisions have been made to the Delegation Order to provide added powers to the position of Deputy Director.

EXCERPT FROM COMMISSIONER’S RESPONSE TO STATUS REPORT

"Your positive findings and comments regarding our progress, as well as the recommendations you have made to maintain the efficiency of our service to citizens who make Access requests are appreciated. Our action plans responding to these new recommendations follow.

Recommendation #1: CSC set an objective for 2004-05 to maintain ideal compliance with the time requirements of the Access to Information Act.

Response: Subsequent to your review period ending in November 2003, CSC has maintained the ideal timeframe compliance rate. An objective contained in the Performance Agreement of the Director, Access to Information and Privacy, directs that this ideal level be maintained for 2004-05. In addition, the time frame compliance of all CSC Assistant Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners is monitored and action is taken where required.

Recommendation #2: CSC assess the impact and cost effectiveness of related information technologies, such as ATIPimage to further assist in maintaining ideal compliance of the Access to Information Act.

Response: The CSC Access to Information and Privacy Branch has made preliminary inquiries to other Departments which utilize ATIP Image in an effort to determine the advantages of using this technology in the CSC workplace. In view of the associated capital costs, and the unique demands experienced by CSC, continued examination of the utility of adopting this system is required. CSC will complete an examination of the potential impacts and cost effectiveness of the purchase and training of this system in the next six months.

As you have indicated, CSC has made significant strides to improve its provision of Access to Information services to Canadians over the past year through improved monitoring and accountability mechanisms, as well as increased staffing levels and a number of training initiatives. These advances will be maintained and improved upon wherever possible. We look forward to continuing to work closely with your officials to ensure the early identification of areas which may require improvement in the future."