Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Acthas, from 1st January 2005, provided a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by Charnwood Borough Council and other public bodies, subject to certain FOI exemptions. There are also similar rights to environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations.

A system has also been put in place to promote the re-use of the information which the Council makes available through the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.

The Council is also committed to complying with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. More details of how it will do so are contained in the Council's Data Protection Policy. If you would like more information about Freedom of Information, Environmental Information or Data Protection please use the contact information below.

• Data Protection Policy (PDF Document, 0.1 Mb)

What are the Council’s obligations?

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Council is required to:

• Provide a guide to information that is routinely published in a Publication Scheme
• Respond to written requests for information within 20 working days of receiving the request
• Provide appropriate assistance to applicants in helping them to frame their request

The documents below provide information about how the Council dealt with requests in 2009 and 2010. Including Environmental Information Regulations and Subject Access requests the Council received 358 requests in 2010, 13% more than the 316 in 2009 and almost twice as many as in 2008.

What is required from you as an applicant making a request?

A large amount of the Council’s information is already contained within our publication scheme and available through our website. Information will first be provided through this route where available. If you have trouble locating this information please refer to staff in the relevant Council Service area or the Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer for assistance.

Where information is not available through the publication scheme, or by reference to the Council Service directly, you can use the general right of access to information held by the Council. In making your request for information under this right of access you must:

• Make your request in writing, by letter, e-mail or using the proforma. If you need assistance with making a request please contact the Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer. The Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Councillor may also be able to provide assistance.
• State your name, and an address for correspondence which can be an e-mail address.
• State clearly what information you require. Please be as specific as possible as this will help with our search and avoid the need to come back to you for clarification.

You may send in your written request by e-mail, by fax, by post or by hand to the Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer.

Charges for providing information

We anticipate that most requests for information will be processed free of charge. If charges are required they will be kept to a minimum and we can only recover the relevant costs of postage, printing and photocopying. At no stage can you be charged for the cost of Council staff time in processing the request.

However, where it is estimated that a request for information would cost the Council more than £450 (approximately 2.5 days of staff time) to search for and collate the information we can refuse to process the request on cost grounds. In these instances we would discuss with you means of limiting your request in order to reduce the estimated costs of processing your request below this threshold.

If a fee is required to provide the information a fee request will be issued to you and the fee must be paid before the request for information can be processed.

If you fail to pay the fee within 3 months your request will lapse.

What information is exempt from disclosure?

Some information is exempt from disclosure under the Act. These exemptions are not there to provide an excuse for Charnwood not to disclose the information but to protect information that it is not appropriate to release. For further information on the exemptions relating to freedom of information see the link.

Exemptions come under two types, absolute and qualified exemptions. If an absolute exemption applies the Council is not required to process the request for information any further. For qualified exemptions, before we refuse to disclose the information we must first check whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs that for refusing to disclose it. In either case we will provide information to you on which exemptions are relevant.

What If you are not satisfied with our response - how can you complain?

Charnwood takes its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 very seriously.

Where you are dissatisfied with the way in which your request has been handled please follow the complaints procedure outlined below.

We will do everything we can to resolve your complaint on an informal basis in the first instance. You will initially need to follow the informal procedure noted below.

INFORMAL PROCEDURE

The following procedure applies:

• Contact the individual that dealt with your information request and they will attempt to resolve your complaint on an informal basis.
• You will normally receive a response within 15 working days.
• If you are still unsatisfied with the response that you have been given please follow the formal complaints procedure outlined below.

FORMAL PROCEDURE

If you were dissatisfied with the outcome of the informal complaints process you should make a formal complaint. The following procedure applies:

• Put your complaint in writing, providing any supporting evidence, to the Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer
• The Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer will investigate and respond to your complaint within 20 working days
• If the Governance and Scrutiny Research Officer dealt with your initial request for information your complaint will automatically be referred to the Head of Strategic Support and / or the Director of Corporate Services for independent consideration
• In this case your complaint will also receive a response within 20 working days

If after pursuing the above complaints process you are still dissatisfied with the response you have been given you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner for a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Act. The Information Commissioner's contact details are:

By Post:
First Contact Team
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

E-mail: casework@ico.gsi.gov.uk