{"resourceId":"south-kesteven-dc-foi-ai-requests-73pct-on-time-q2-20261106","versions":[{"version":"external-7b8d835df5d9f3e935f1bfd6b6a3fa2d2bfc9446075c0076c9e1a3f635809057","resource":{"id":"south-kesteven-dc-foi-ai-requests-73pct-on-time-q2-20261106","title":"South Kesteven District Council answered 73.24% of 268 FOI requests on time in Q2 against a 95% target; officers blame longer, more complex requests and councillors' AI-generated FOIs","organization":"South Kesteven District Council (Governance and Audit Committee)","sector":"Local government public records (FOI) requests","geography":"South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom","publishedAt":"2026-11-06","publicationDate":"2026-11-06","eventDate":"2026-11-05","sourceName":"LincsOnline (Local Democracy Reporting Service)","sourceLabel":"'Frivolous' number of FOI requests made by South Kesteven district councillors and generated by AI are branded 'absurd and a waste of time'","sourceUrl":"https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/grantham/news/frivoulous-number-of-foi-requests-made-by-councillors-and-g-9490251/","evidenceClass":"independent-reporting","outcomeClass":"cautionary","topics":["operating-model","governance-procurement"],"finding":"At its Nov. 5, 2026 governance and audit committee meeting, South Kesteven District Council reported receiving 268 FOI requests in Q2 of the financial year and resolving 196 (73.24%) within 20 working days, against a 95% target. The monitoring officer attributed delays to an uptick in the length and complexity of requests. The council leader criticised the number of 'frivolous' requests and specifically councillors submitting lengthy AI-generated FOI requests instead of asking officers or cabinet members directly.","sledRelevance":"Gives a measured on-time rate against target for one council where officials attribute slippage partly to AI-generated requests, a concrete data point for the archived records-request strain thread. Published Nov. 6 and not considered in the Nov. 7 edition.","evidence":"Local Democracy Reporting account of a public committee meeting with council-reported quarterly figures; the share of AI-generated requests is not quantified.","architectureImplications":"No technology change described; implies need for request tracking that records length/complexity and requester type.","governanceImplications":"Raises internal governance questions when elected members use FOI (and AI) instead of member-officer information routes.","securityPrivacyImplications":"None described.","caveats":"Single quarter, single council; AI attribution is officials' opinion; 'frivolous' is a political characterisation; UK FOI regime differs from U.S. state public records laws.","streamIds":["citizen-engagement"],"roles":{"sales":"Sales framing: South Kesteven supplies a measurable symptom, not a solution. The council resolved 73.24% of 268 FOI requests on time against a 95% target, and officers blamed longer, more complex and AI-generated requests. Discovery should ask whether a records team tracks request length and complexity, which requesters drive volume, and what internal routes could divert requests. A bounded engagement is a records-workload baseline study. Do not claim AI caused the shortfall; officials offered no breakdown.","engineering":"Engineering framing: nothing technical changed here, but the case shows what to instrument. A records case system should capture request length, number of distinct asks, requester category and time per stage, so AI-related load can be measured rather than asserted. Prerequisites are consistent logging and categories. Constraints include statutory deadlines and FOI's requester-blind principle. Proof of value is a quarter of instrumented data that explains on-time slippage, before any triage tooling is considered.","delivery":"Delivery framing: the fix starts with process and data ownership. The monitoring officer and information governance team own FOI performance and report to the governance and audit committee. Acceptance criteria below are proposals: complexity measures recorded for every request, a member-information route that reduces internal FOIs, and on-time performance tracked against the 95% target each quarter. Agree member protocols with group leaders, and report AI-related load only when it is measured."},"roleDetails":{"sales":{"customerProblem":"FOI on-time performance falling well below target as requests grow longer and more complex.","stakeholders":["Monitoring officer","Information governance team","Governance and audit committee","Council leader"],"discoveryQuestions":["Do you record request length or complexity?","How many requests come from internal members?","What share is suspected AI-generated?"],"valueHypothesis":"Measured workload data plus member protocols may recover on-time performance; unproven.","potentialEngagement":"A one-quarter records-workload baseline with complexity tagging.","unsupportedClaims":["That AI caused the shortfall","Benefit of AI triage","Any national trend from one council"]},"engineering":{"fit":"Fits records teams with statutory deadlines that need evidence on what is driving delay.","architectureIntegration":"Case-management fields for request length, distinct asks, requester category and stage timing.","prerequisites":["Consistent request logging","Agreed complexity categories","Quarterly reporting"],"constraints":["Statutory 20-working-day deadline","Requester-blind processing","Small team capacity"],"security":"Ensure requester-category tagging does not breach requester-blind handling or data protection.","proofOfValue":["Complexity data explains slippage","Internal-request share measured","On-time rate trend by category"]},"delivery":{"work":"Instrument FOI handling and set member information protocols.","dependencies":["Case-management system","Group leaders' agreement","Committee reporting cycle"],"ownership":"Monitoring officer and information governance team.","skillsAdoption":"Train officers on consistent tagging and on clarifying overly broad requests.","governanceCheckpoints":["Committee review each quarter","Member protocol agreed","Data protection check on tagging"],"acceptanceCriteria":["Complexity recorded on all requests","Internal FOIs reduced after protocol","Quarterly on-time rate reported vs 95%"],"risks":["Political framing distracts from data","Tagging overhead","Attribution to AI without evidence"]}},"retrievedAt":"2026-11-09T22:09:15-06:00","enrichedAt":"2026-11-09T22:15:04-06:00","enrichmentBasis":"retrieved source","accessibilityWorkforceImplications":"Officer capacity strained by request complexity; no staffing changes reported.","procurementImplications":"None described.","operatingModelImplications":"Suggests diverting member information requests to internal channels and measuring request complexity alongside volume.","sourceVerification":{"openedUrl":"https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/grantham/news/frivoulous-number-of-foi-requests-made-by-councillors-and-g-9490251/","referenceExcerpt":"the council received 268 FOI requests, with 196 - or 73.24% - being resolved within the defined timescale","promptVersion":"sled-research-v4.0","model":null,"basis":"agent-reported inspection"}}}]}