Frequently Asked Questions

You must write to the Council stating which information is incorrect and why, and ask for it to be corrected.

The Council must then tell you whether or not it has complied with your request within 21 days. If you are unhappy with the outcome of this you may then complain to the Council in writing and a review of the case will be undertaken by the Information Management Officer. You will be contacted with 15 days with the outcome of this review.
If you still feel the outcome of this is unsatisfactory, a complaint can be logged with the Information Commissioner.

You are entitled to be told if any personal information is held about you and if it is, to be given:

• A copy of the information in permanent form
• An explanation of any technical or complicated terms
• Any information the Council has about where they got your information from
• A description of the information, the purposes for processing the information; and
  who the Council is sharing the information with
• The logic involved in any automated decisions (if you have specifically asked for this)

The Council may charge a fee of up to £10

You will have to pay a fee (if charged) for every request, so you will need to specify all the information you need in your first letter, otherwise you may have to pay another fee to get information that you have asked for on a different occasion.

Providing the information you have requested is not covered by one the exemptions under the Act, we will provide it to you.

If we are unable to release the information for some reason, we will contact you to advise you of this as soon as possible. If this is the case we will also provide you with a full explanation of why you cannot access the data:

Click here for the Details of Exemptions.

Click here for advice on How to make a request

'Personal information' is information about a living person that can identify that individual. Information about deceased individuals is not covered under the Data Protection Act'

If your request is refused, for example because the information requested falls within one or more of the statutory exemptions, you will be told why it was refused and informed of any exemptions that apply. If you are unhappy with the Council's decision, we will do everything we can to resolve your complaint on an informal basis in the first instance. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the informal complaints process you may apply to the Council for an internal review of the decision. This review will be undertaken by different officers from those who made the original decision and the result of the review will be notified to you in writing. If, having gone through our internal review procedure, you are still unhappy with the Council's decision, you may ask the Information Commissioner to independently review the case. The Information Commissioner is responsible for administering and enforcing the Freedom Of Information Act 2000 and may be contacted at the following address: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Click here for the Freedom of Information Complaints Procedure

The Act itself does not place restrictions on how the information supplied under it may be used but you should, of course, have regard to the laws of the land - it must not be used for any illegal purposes and you should not use it in a way which could leave you open to prosecution or other forms of litigation. In particular, it should be noted that the Freedom Of Information Act 2000 does not transfer copyright in any information supplied under it.

Whilst the Act does not specifically limit the number of requests you can make, it does give the public authority the right to refuse any 'vexatious' or unreasonably repeated requests. This can include repeated requests for similar information from the same person (or persons acting together) or requests which are deemed to be made with the intention of disrupting the authority`s work.

The Act states that, when a public authority receives a request for information, it must respond to it as quickly as possible and, in any case, not later than 20 'working' days after the request is received (or after the nature and extent of the request was clarified where such further clarification of the original request was needed). Obviously response times will vary with the extent of the information requested and also any specially requested format, but we will do our best to get the information to you as quickly as possible. If a fee is required to be paid (see above), we will send you the information when the fee has been paid in full. (Please allow time for cheques to clear). The reply will usually confirm or deny whether or not we actually hold the information you have requested, and, if we do, we will either provide the information or explain why it has not been provided (quoting any appropriate exemption(s) under the Act). It is important to note that the Act gives the right to 'information' rather than the documents themselves. In some cases, however, it might be reasonable, and more practicable, for us to provide copies of the actual documents themselves.

Where the Council is permitted by, or under, statute and has, in the past, charged for providing certain information and publications, such charges will remain. If you are requesting information that is covered in our 'Publication Scheme', the scheme gives details of those classes of information where we may charge for providing the information. We may, in certain circumstances, also be able charge for certain information that is not covered in the scheme although, at the time of writing (early December 2004), the regulations governing this aspect of the Act had not been issued. Keep an eye on this website for the latest developments and for details of all current charges and fees for our publications and services.

You may ask for the information to be supplied to you in any format. However, a public authority may take into account the cost of supplying the information in your preferred format. In any case, you may ask for information in summary form, or for permission to inspect the records containing the information you require.

A great deal of the Council's information is already at your fingertips, here on the Council's website. On it, you will find the Council's `Publication Scheme`, which lists the sorts of information that we make available as a matter of routine. Also, our 'A to Z of services' gives you quick and easy access to a myriad of information concerning what the Council does and how and why it does it. You can, of course, also make use of the website's 'search' facility to locate all references to a particular topic that is of interest to you. If the information you require is not already on our website, you can write in to us (or email us) with your request, giving your name and an address for correspondence, and stating clearly what information you require. A simple form is available for you to download and use by clicking the follwing link Freedom of Information Request Form (PDF Document, 0.1 Mb). If you require any assistance in formulating your request, just contact us. We are here to help.