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Freedom Of Information Policy

Freedom of Information Policy 2023 – 2026

The Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways:

  • Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities
  • Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

The FOIA gives two related qualified rights – the right to be told whether the information is held and the right to receive the information, subject to exemptions. The right of access applies regardless of the purpose of the application

The FOIA covers any recorded information held by a public authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland. Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, hand-written notes and sound or video recordings.

The Act also covers the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 although a separate process exists for requesting this information.

The Act does not give people access to their own personal data (information about themselves). Individuals wishing to see information about themselves need to make a Subject Access Request under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). 

Policy

Rushcliffe Borough Council will:

  • Respond to requests for information promptly and within 20 working days from the day after the day of receipt. Where we are not able to do so we will inform requesters of the reasons and keep them updated of progress in dealing with their request
  • Maintain a ‘Publication Scheme' that provides information which is readily accessible without the need for a formal FOIA request
  • Continue to protect the personal data entrusted to us, by disclosing it only in accordance with the UK GDPR
  • Consult with third parties before disclosing information that could affect their rights and interests. However, we reserve the right to take the final decision on disclosure
  • Reserve the right to make reasonable charge for information requests in line with the FOIA Fees Regulations or other applicable regulations, including charging for requests made under the UK GDPR
  • Where we are not minded to disclose information where exemptions apply seek to explain the exemption and how we are applying it
  • Provide a review process for requesters
  • Ensure that all staff and Councillors are aware of their obligations under the FOIA to make information available.

Publication Scheme and Disclosure Logs

Under the FOIA, the Council has to produce and maintain a document called a Publication Scheme. This is a directory of information and publications that are routinely available from us. You can view our Publication Scheme on our website. You might find the information you are seeking there which is usually quicker than submitting an FOI request.

Before you make a request, you may find the information you need in the responses to previous requests in our Disclosure Log. These are the responses to requests made previously under the FOIA and the EIR regulations which we feel are of wider public interest.

Making a request for information

To be valid under the FOIA, requests:

  • Must be in writing
  • Must clearly describe the information being sought
  • Can be made by an individual or an organisation
  • Can be made by letter, or email
  • Must be legible
  • Must contain the name of the applicant and a return address.

To be valid under the FOIA, requests do not:

  • Have to be written in a special form
  • Need to mention the FOIA
  • Need to refer to “Freedom of Information”.

You can make a request for information:

The Council has a duty to provide advice and assistance to applicants so far as it would be reasonable to expect the Council to do so – please contact our Customer Services team if you need help submitting a request.

On receiving your request, the Council must advise whether it holds the information and must normally supply it within 20 working days. However, if your request is unclear and we need further details to establish if we hold the information, we may ask you for clarification. The time limit will stop and will not restart until we receive the additional detail from you.

Requests can be for information held in paper documents, electronic files, images, audio and video files.

Fees and Charges

Wherever possible, Rushcliffe Borough Council will provide information free of charge. However, in some cases this is not possible. We are entitled to charge for information where necessary and will provide an estimate before any work is carried out.

Any fee payable will be for:

  • Putting the information into the format you have requested e.g. from printed to electronic or from electronic to printed
  • Reproducing the information e.g. toner or paper charges or a CD-ROM
  • Posting the information out to you.

A fee can also be charged if we estimate that it will take us more than 18 working hours to:

  • Determine if we hold the information
  • Find it
  • Retrieve it
  • Extract it from another document eg a database or spreadsheet.

If we estimate that your request will exceed the 18-hour limit, then we have an obligation to ask you to refine your request.

Different rules apply to the provision of environmental information.

For more information on fees see our FOI fees and charges.

Repeat Requests

The Council does not have to comply with a request where it has received an identical or similar request from the same individual unless a reasonable interval has elapsed between compliance with the original request and the current request. This is called a repeat request.

In addition, the Council will not comply with vexatious requests where there is a strong likelihood that such requests are being made to intentionally cause disproportionate or unjustified levels of disruption, irritation or distress.

Requesters believed of submitting repeat or vexatious requests will be provided with an explanation outlining why the Council will not be complying with the request.

Exemptions

Under the FOIA there are 23 exemptions; of these, 15 apply to councils. These are categories where the information you have requested does not have to be provided by the Council. If the information you request is covered by an exemption, then we will explain why we cannot release it. These exemptions are split into two types: qualified and absolute exemptions.

Qualified exemptions

There are 10 qualified exemptions under the FOIA. Where the information you have requested is considered to fall within one of the qualified categories it means we have to consider if it is within the public interest to withhold the information. If we decide it is within the public interest to release information you can have it. However, if we decide to withhold information, we will tell you the reason for doing this.

For example: information that is intended for future publication - the information would not normally be released until the work has been finished or the intended publication date is reached. However, if it is considered to be in the public interest then we will release it - if not it will be withheld until the publication date is reached.

Absolute exemptions

There are five absolute exemptions under the FIOA. In these cases, we do not have to consider the public interest.

For example: where disclosing information could result in harm to an individual.

Requests for review

If you have not received the information you asked for, or if some of it has been withheld, the Council has a procedure for reviewing FOI requests.

You must put your request for review in writing within 40 working days of receiving the Council’s response, giving the reasons for your review request. You can do this:

  • By email to customerservices@rushcliffe.gov.uk
  • By post to Freedom of Information, Rushcliffe Borough Council, Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7YG.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545745

Fax: 01625 524510

Website: https://ico.org.uk

Further information about your rights under the FOIA is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Monitoring

Incoming request under the FOIA are logged on the Council’s Customer Management System by our Customer Services Team. Requests for information are sent by the system to identified managers and timescales for response are monitored. Once information requesters have received their information, if the Council feels this information is of wider interest, then it is forwarded to the Communications Team for inclusion on the Council’s publicly available Disclosure Log.

Requests under the FOIA will be monitored through the council's performance management framework bi-monthly by Service Managers. The Executive Management Team will be made aware of any significant enquiries or emerging themes.

This Policy will be reviewed every three years or earlier if legislation or operating practices change.

Accessible Documents