Other Desk Reviews
There are two ‘other desk-based reviews’.
Decisions on Appeals
The first, in the Central Measures assessment area, is a desk review of the decisions on appeals. These decisions should be available on the oversight body’s website. If not, they may be available directly from the oversight body (including, where necessary, through making an RTI request for them). In many cases, oversight bodies decide a great many appeals every year. In this case, it may not be realistic to review them all. Instead, it might make sense to review a random selection, say one in ten or twenty decisions. Decisions should also be reviewed over a period of years.
The key types of information that are being assessed through this review are:
- how long does it take to process appeals (on average, longest 10%)?
- do the decisions suggest that the system is geographically accessible (i.e. are they coming from different parts of the jurisdiction)?
- are appropriate decisions being made (based on what the facts of the case suggest would be an appropriate outcome)?
- are appropriate remedies being awarded (again based on what is allowed and what seems appropriate based on the facts of each case)?
- do the decisions suggest that appropriate due process protections have been respected (for example because it is clear that both parties have been given a chance to make representations)?
Proactive Publication
The second ‘other desk-based review’, in the Proactive Publication assessment area, is a desk review of what has been published by public authorities on their websites. This is the primary assessment tool for this area.
The key types of information that are being assessed through this review are:
- are all of the documents that the law requires being disclosed proactively? Does the public authority interpret the legal requirements narrowly or more generously?
- is it reasonably easy to find these documents?
- are the documents available in different languages?
- are disclosures and the websites containing them SCAG 2.0 compliant?
- has any complex information been ‘translated’ into simpler language so that citizens can understand it?