Should I complain about FOI request?

[fivedogstofeed]

So I submitted a FOI request to the local council and they came back within the timeframe but giving figures which made no sense at all ( breakdown didn't even add up to their total). When I queried this they came back with more complete bollocks which was obviously wrong. They finally sent me a spreadsheet of figures which appears to give the information I want but doesn't specifically answer the questions in my original request.
The level of incompetence makes me seriously doubt anything I've been told and query whether they even take a FOI seriously.
WWYD?

Yes.

In my experience, this sort of back and forth-ing happens when the organisation is struggling to find the information you asked for in the way that you have asked for it ( so the figures might have been compiled from several different departments with a certain amount of overlap which has caused the discrepancies, or they might be held by one department but not usually collected in a way that makes it easy to produce them). It sounds as though the organisation has found an alternative spreadsheet that they can be confident about, and so they're hoping that will do, even though it doesn't answer exactly what you want. The other thing that could be happening is that the department who holds the information is really busy and is trying to avoid having to do a lot of work to compile your information.

I think you've got two options. You can either go back to them informally (again) and point out that the spreadsheet doesn't answer your question, or you can follow the formal FOI process and tell them you aren't happy with the response ask for an internal review of the handling of the request/response given.

With the informal route, they will go back to the department who holds the info and ask for it again, hopefully with a better result.
If you request a review then the organisation will follow their review process. If the reason for the odd responses is that the organisation doesn't have the info in a way that they can provide it to you to answer your questions then they will tell you that they don't hold the info you have requested. If the reason is that the department who holds the info doesn't want to have to put the time aside to find it/compile it, then the reviewer(s) if the request will tell them that they have to do it and you'll get your information.

@Ashke is right but as it’s an FOI they should take this a lot more seriously. I think it’s the ICO you need to refer to in your request for review to prompt them

They don't have to give you information that they don't "hold" and hold can include data processing to put it in the format you asked for if that makes sense. In my experience councils bend over backwards to provide what you want in the format you want but sometimes it just doesn't actually exist. You could and did ask follow up questions e.g. how is the data collected etc and that might help make sense of it all.

@Notmyideamovingon has summed up my experience on this. I work for a local council and we frequently get FOIs. Sometimes we get requests that you'd expect would be easy to fulfil, but in reality are a nightmare to complete. And that's mainly due to data not being readily available in the format requested. Or way in which the question is asked.

Sorry I know that's not actually answering your question! Bit like your FOI response! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣
But I'd go back to them to say none of this actually is telling me what I asked. Is the data actually available?

Interesting responses - thankyou!
I can totally understand that FOI requests are a total pain and I may need to reply to some myself at some point. However, if I were, I would be checking and double checking the information before sending it out. What the council sent me honestly looked like random figures plucked from the air.

It's not complicated data, genuinely, and nothing that someone with a calculator couldn't take from the 4 column spreadsheet they eventually sent me.

Thing is, if i had asked for "all data about x on these dates" I presumed they would have asked me to be more specific, so I therefore asked very specific questions. The response came from a council head of department.

Hang on, you said its nothing that someone with a calculator can't take from the spreadsheet - so why don't you do that? That sounds like the information is there?

@Pootles34 because I honestly thought if my request said " give me all your data in a spreadsheet" they would refuse on the grounds that it wasn't a specific enough request.

If you have got the data you wanted, just that it's not in the format that you would have preferred then I don't think it is worth complaining tbh OP.

What do you want to achieve from complaining? You've got the info now, right? Do you believe they were trying to hide or disguise the info or does it just sound like incompetence probably due to council staff cuts.

If you want more info, fair enough. If you want to complain about incompetence then a complaint will make no difference at all and just add to their workload.

@Haffdonga What do you want to achieve from complaining - I'd like to think that next time I ( or someone else) submit a FOI request that they don't get sent a load of gobbledygook and that the council thinks this is actually OK

I think OP as well, where you said the data came from a head of dept, whilst it may well have gone out with their name on it, in all likelihood it will be one of their officers who has compiled it. I spend half my life preparing reports and responses for my seniors...
could be wrong! But that's certainly how it works at our place.

There is absolutely no requirement under foi to manipulate / assess the data to your requirements. The requirement is to give you the data. You're lucky you got anything to be honest as they would be justified to say they didn't hold the data in that formatand refuse the request. Although they should tell you what format they have it in and offer it. I honestly think you fundamentally misunderstand the act not to mention the fact that councils have been but to the bone and further