Severe criticism of the Municipal Executive Board in Vindeln Municipality for its handling of a request for access to official documents

A person requested a violation report from a school in Vindeln Municipality, among other things.  It took about two weeks for some of the requested documents to be provided, and those documents were partially redacted. Despite the requests thus not being fully granted, the applicant was not informed of his right to an administrative review and an appealable decision.  After the applicant requested an appealable decision on several occasions, he received one just over four months after the original request. At that point, the applicant also received, among other things, another redacted version of the violation report. However, the formal decision provided at that time gave the misleading impression that the request had been fully granted. In addition, the decision lacked a clear statement of reasons and information as to which provisions had been applied.

The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman states that, among other things, the initial processing time of just under two weeks is already unacceptable and the fact that the applicant had to wait over four months for an appealable decision following his request is wholly unacceptable. In addition, Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman states that the inadequate drafting of the decision restricted the applicant’s ability to bring judicial proceedings.

In light of the stated deficiencies in processing, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman severely criticises the Municipal Executive Board.