Freedom of information

	Information Commissioner's Office website

We are committed to open government and making as much information as possible accessible to the general public. However, we also respect confidentiality and personal privacy of data protection and other relevant controls upon access to information.

What is the Freedom of Information Act?

The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to obtain information held by public authorities unless there are good reasons to keep it confidential. This general right of access under the Freedom of Information Act came into force in January 2005.

The Freedom of Information Act creates two general rights in relation to information:

• the right to be told whether or not the information requested is held
• the right to be given that information within 20 working days

Visit the Freedom of Information page of the Information Commissioner's Office website for full details on the topic.

How do I make a Freedom of Information request to the Council?

Your request must be made in writing, by post or by email, using the contact details below:

If you are submitting your request by post it would be helpful to supply a daytime telephone number in case we need to contact you to clarify your request.

What is the Data Protection Act?

The Data Protection Act gives you the right to know what information is held about you, and sets out rules to make sure that this information is handled properly.

The Act is enforced by the Information Commissioner. He has powers to take action against organisations that misuse information about you.

Visit the Data Protection pages of the Information Commissioner's website for full details on the topic.

Can I appeal against a decision by the Council to withhold information?

If you are unhappy with any part of the initial response provided to you by the Council's Freedom of Information Officer you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made.

You may do this by writing to the address below:

If, after the result of an internal review you are still not satisfied you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf.

The Information Commissioner has the power to investigate the way any public authority has handled your request and the answer they gave. If he agrees that we have wrongly withheld information, he can order us to disclose it to you. Visit the Complaints section of the Information Commissioner's Office website for details of how to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

Does the Council have a Publications Scheme?

We have created a publication scheme because of the Freedom of Information Act. This has been approved by the Information Commissioner, whose office was created by the Act and who has wide powers to enforce the rights contained in the Act.

Our publication scheme sets out:

• how to obtain different types of information
• what types of information are available to be inspected and copied
• any charge that the Council will make for such copies

Visit our Publications Library page for more information.

How well is the Council performing in dealing with Freedom of Information requests?

You can see a report of our performance below:

Page last reviewed 5 Feb 2008