The FOI Act
gives any person the legal right to ask for and be given any information
which is held by a public authority. The DCA is the government department
with responsibility for Freedom of Information and Data Protection Policy.
How
to make a request
Any person can make a request under the Act - there are no restrictions
on your age, nationality, or where you live.
All you have
to do is write to (or email) the public authority that you think holds
the information you want. You should make sure that you include:
You should try
to describe the information you want in as much detail as possible -
for example "minutes of the meeting where the decision to do X
was made", rather than "everything you have about X".
This will help the public authority find the information you need.
Public authorities
must comply with your request promptly, and should provide the information
to you within 20 working days (around a month). If they need more time,
they must write to you and tell you when they will be able to answer
your request, and why they need more time.
What
you can ask for and who you can ask
The Freedom of Information Act applies to all 'public authorities' -
this includes
-
central
and local government
-
the
health service
-
schools,
colleges and universities
-
the
police
-
lots
of other non-departmental public bodies, committees and advisory
bodies.
You can ask
for any information at all - but some information might be withheld
to protect various interests which are allowed for by the Act. If this
is the case, the public authority must tell you that they have withheld
information and why.
If you ask for
information about yourself, then your request will be handled under
the Data Protection Act instead of the Freedom of Information Act. You
have slightly different rights to this information, different fees apply
and public authorities have longer to respond to these requests.
Scotland has
its own Freedom of Information Act, which is very similar to the England,
Wales and Northern Ireland Act. If the public authority you want to
make a request to operates only in Scotland then your request will be
handled under the Scottish Act instead.
What it costs
Most requests are free. You might be asked to pay a small amount for
making photocopies or postage.
If the public
authority thinks that it will cost them more than £450 (or £600
for a request to central government) to find the information and prepare
it for release, then they can turn down your request. They might ask
you to narrow down your request by being more specific in the information
you're looking for.
If your
request is refused
If a public authority is withholding all or some of the information
that you have asked for, they must tell you why - for example, to protect
national security or someone's health and safety.
Your
right of appeal
If your request is refused, you should first ask the public authority
for an internal review of their decision. Someone in the authority who
was not connected with the initial decision should carry out this review.
If you have
already done this, or the public authority refuses to review their decision,
you can appeal to the independent Information Commissioner. He has the
power to investigate the way the public authority handled your request
and the answer they gave. If he agrees that they have wrongly withheld
information, he can order them to disclose it to you.
The
information you receive
You may request that the information be given to you in a particular
form. However, a public authority may take into account the cost of
supplying the information in this form before complying with your request.
In particular, you may ask for information in permanent form, in summary
form, or for permission to inspect records containing the information.
It may also
be possible for public authorities to supply the information in Braille
or audio format, in large type, or translated into another language.
However, you should discuss this with the individual public authority.
The Freedom
of Information Act does not place restrictions on how you may use the
information you receive under it. However, the Act does not transfer
copyright in any information supplied under it. If you plan to re-produce
the information you receive, you should ensure that you will not be
breaching anyone's copyright by doing so.
