Backlog buster

The Backlog Buster service applies most directly to backlogs of Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulation requests. After signing a non-disclosure agreement, you provide me with as many requests as you need, plus any information you have on the organisation’s inclination in terms of a response. The more information you can provide, the easier it will be for me to give you a steer, and the less I will charge you as a result.

My advice will be based on the approach taken by the Information Commissioner and where available, the Tribunals and Courts. I can tell you how likely any particular approach is likely to be upheld, based on the Commissioner’s current stance. The starting point for any request is that you should disclose the information, and my aim will not be to reassure you that a spurious or weak argument will hold water. The point is to give you a straight assessment of the options that are likely available to you.

You can pay me to review individual requests and work through all the relevant material itself, even down to doing the physical redactions.

But let me be honest: I’ll take your money to do all sorts of things, but you almost certainly have staff you’re already paying who can do redactions and the like. My aim with the Backlog Buster is to cut through the indecision and bad planning that often leads to the development of a backlog and to provide a practical, actionable approach to each request. I want to help you to get on top of the backlog and get decent responses out to applicants who are entitled to them. I might advise you that you can refuse, that you should ask for clarification, or that you should disclose. The aim here is to work together to build sound responses

If you have a backlog, drop me a line and we can have a no-obligation, no-cost chat.