Timeframe for Response

Introduction

The Official Information Act requests must be dealt with as quickly as possible, but must be completed no later than 20 working days from receipt of the request.

A requester can claim urgency for the request and every effort should be made to provide the information in the time sought.

Timeframe

The timeframe commences from the date the request is received by the Community Probation Service, not from the time the person allocated to respond to it receives it.

This means that if drafting a response to a request that has been forwarded by Head Office, advice will be given of the date the response must be back with Head Office. This date will have been calculated to allow Head Office to process the response and respond to the requester within the 20 day timeframe.

If seeking advice from Head Office on a request received locally, advice of the date the request was received and the date the request is due to be completed.

Requesting an extension

There are occasions when the request cannot be completed in the timeframe outlined in the OIA, and an extension needs to be sought. This could be as a result of the amount of information sought, or difficulty in collating or locating the information sought.

Any request for an extension should be referred to Head Office for a decision. This needs to be done at the earliest indication of a timeframe not being met.

Notification of extension

If an extension is sought, the requester must be notified in writing within 20 days of the request being received. The notice to the requester must contain the following information:

• the period of the extension
• the reason for the extension, and
• that the requester has the right to make a complaint about the extension to the Ombudsman.