Under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations there is a right to request any recorded information held by, or on behalf of, the County Council.

The FOI process

If you receive a FOI, you have 20 working days in which to give a full response.

You must:

• acknowledge the request
• ask for more details or clarification if the request is not clear
• say whether a fee is required to provide the information requested
• let the requester know of any reason the request may be refused or if any of the information requested falls under exemptions or exceptions
• give a timescale for completing the request if that information cannot be provided immediately or if a third party must be consulted
• how the information can be disclosed and the format, for example, electronic. If you do not hold the information requested, you may be able to transfer the request to another public authority that does.

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You must inform in writing if the request for information is turned down and explain why the request has been refused. The main reasons being:

• you don’t hold the information
• it would cost too much to comply
• the request is vexatious or repeated
• the information is exempt from disclosure under one of the legally permitted exemptions or exceptions.