Freedom of information

The Freedom of Information Act

2000 grants anyone a general right of access to information held by public authorities and organisations providing services on behalf of a public authority. It does this in two ways:

Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and

Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

There is no definition of what information is covered by the Act. Therefore any information held could be liable to be disclosed, for example, minutes of meetings, policy documents or details of expenditure. There are situations where a public authority may refuse to disclose information. More detailed guidance is available from the Information Commissioner.

You should put a request for information in writing (including fax and e-mail) and the request should be sent in legible form; be capable of being used for subsequent reference; include your name and address and describe the information requested.

Generally, they must inform you whether they hold the information you requested and if so, provide it to you. Remember that there are a number of situations where they do not have to comply.

If a public authority is under a duty to comply with your request, it must try and comply with your preference for the format of the information. However, they have a right to consider all relevant circumstances, including the costs of meeting your request. If they consider that it is not reasonable to provide the information in your preferred format, it must provide you with reasons for that decision.

The public authority must generally respond to a request for information within 20 working days of receipt of your request.

However, there are circumstances where they may be able to take a longer period to respond your request. Guidance on the time limits can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website: bit.ly/wokico1 (PDF doc).

A public authority may charge you a fee for complying with your request for information. To do so they must issue you with a fees notice that states the fee to be charged for complying with your request.

You then have three months to pay the fee. If you don’t pay within three months you will have to start again.

There is no restriction on the fees that may be charged for information made available by way of a publication scheme. The fee that a public authority can charge for information provided other than under its publication scheme is made up of costs for locating and retrieving information (but not staff costs) and the costs of copying and postage, etc.

Currently, the fees are that there should be no charge by a government department if the prescribed costs are £600 or less, and, for all other public authorities, no charge where the prescribed costs are £450 or less.

It is unclear what fees can be charged by a public authority where the prescribed costs exceeds these limits.

You can get help, information and advice from your local

Citizens Advice or visit www. citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk or contact Citizens Advice Wokingham at Second Floor, Waterford House, Erftstadt Court, Wokingham RG40 2YF. Tel: 0300 330 1189. email: public@citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk