My request for information

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) we should respond to your request promptly and within 20 working days. For requests made under the Data Protection Act a response will be sent within 40 days of receipt of your request.

However, once we have reviewed your request if we do not understand what information you have requested we will write to you seeking clarification. This may also apply if your request for information can be read in more than one way. 

Where we are unsure about a request we will try to seek your clarification promptly but we will not be able to respond until we receive a response which clearly explains what information you would like to receive.

The Act allows us to extend the 20 working day deadline if we need to clarify your request with you, if we are charging you a fee, or if we are considering the public interest test. We will always let you know if we need to extend the deadline.

Points to remember

• You can ask for any information you think we may hold. Remember the right only covers recorded information (information held on computers, in emails and in printed or handwritten documents as well as images, video and audio recordings)
• You should identify the information you want as clearly as possible
• Your request can be in the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, but we do not have to answer your question if this would mean creating new information or giving an opinion or judgment that is not already recorded
• Some information may not be given to you because it is exempt, for example because it would unfairly reveal personal details about somebody else

Useful Information

For your request to be dealt with properly, you must:

• Contact us directly
• Make the request in writing, for example in a letter or an email. You can make a verbal or written request for environmental information
• Give your real name
• Give an address to which the authority can reply. This can be a postal or email address

But you do not have to:

• Mention the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, although it may help to do so
• Know whether the information is covered by the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations
• Say why you want the information