What is the Freedom of Information Act?

Under The Freedom of Information Act any person or organisation has the right to request information held by the Council.

The Council is committed to openness and actively seeks to make available information, however before making a request please refer to our

• Publication scheme: A guide to the information we have made available and intend to make available in the future,
• Transparency information: How we work, our decision making process and the services we provide.
• Disclosure log:  Search to see if the information you are looking for has already been provided in a previous disclosure. 

PLEASE NOTE: Personal information cannot be disclosed under the FOI Act, to request your personal information please visit the data protection webpage.

How to make a request and how long will it take

Requests for information can be made through our online service or by contacting the Freedom of Information Team.

The Act requires the requested information be made available within 20 working days, however, this can be extended in certain circumstances, such as where a public interest test is required.

Charges

Under the Act we are not obliged to comply with a request where we estimate the time taken to extract and collate the information will exceed 18 hours (or £450).

If we believe request will exceed this limit we will endeavour to provide recommendations as to how a request might be refined so that we may comply.

Complaint procedure and appeals

We want to be as open as possible and wherever possible to supply information that is requested, but in some cases, it is necessary to withhold information covered by exemptions in the Act.

• If we are not able to provide the information requested or we need to extend the time to complete a public interest test we will write to you giving you our reasons within 20 working days.
• If you are not satisfied with your response you have 40 working days from the date of our response to request an internal review of our handling of your request. We must respond within 40 working days of receipt of this.

If, following the outcome of the internal review, you remain dissatisfied you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office.