Request for information - explanatory notes

What is Freedom of Information (FOI)?

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability among public authorities by providing people with rights of access to the information held by them. It is expected that these rights will facilitate better public understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money.

The act creates two principal obligations for public authorities, from which other obligations stem:

1. Each public authority must adopt and maintain a publication scheme setting out:

• details of information it will routinely make available
• how the information can be obtained
• whether there is any charge for it

The date by which public authorities are required to have their schemes in place varies – view the council’s publication scheme for this.

2. From 1 January 2005, every public authority must comply with requests for the information that it holds unless there is an exemption from disclosure. Public authorities will normally have a maximum of 20 working days to respond to the request, however there are circumstances when this time limit can be extended.

What can you ask for?

You can ask for any information held by the council in any form. This includes information held in paper, electronic and any other formats.

The council then has a duty to supply it unless one or more of a number of statutory exemption applies – for example if

• it is a matter covered by data protection legislation
• it is available under our publication scheme
• it might be considered prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs, etc

Must you make a FOI application to get information from public bodies?

No. Public bodies, including the council, make information available to the public through information leaflets, publications and responses to enquiries. This will continue.

FOI provides an additional source by facilitating access to information not routinely available.

How do you apply?

Requests must be made in writing and can be by letter, fax or email. A form to request for information is available here on the website – this can be completed and submitted online or downloaded, completed and sent to us. A form for this purpose is also available from the council’s Ideas stores, libraries and One Stop shops.

You should give as much detail as possible to help us identify the information you are seeking, though we will be happy to assist you with this. If we need more detail from you to identify the information, we will contact you.

Where to send your requests

The Information Governance Team
Chief Executive’s Directorate
Town Hall
Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG

Tel: 020 7364 4354
Fax: 020 7364 4804

E-mail: foi@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Will there be a charge?

The Government allows the Council to charge for requests that take more than 18 hours to complete (calculated to be a cost of £25 per hour totalling £450).

In most circumstances, Tower Hamlets will refuse to respond to requests for information that take more than 18 hours and will ask requesters to modify the request to bring it below the limit. If the requester refuses to amend the request, the Council will not process the request further.

This policy reflects the fact that charging for information creates a two-tier system where access to information is available on a basis of whether you can pay. The Council believes this is contrary to the intention of the Act, and therefore endeavours to ensure a level playing field for all.

There is more detail on charges at: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/your-council/data/foi/data/charges/index.cfm

How will we respond?

We will respond as far as possible in the way you wish us to. This can be by post, email or arranged personal collection, for example.

We will provide you with the information requested within 20 days where we can, or tell you why we are unable to do so. If for any reason there is likely to be a delay, we will let you know.

What you can do if you are unhappy about a decision on your request?

Initially, you should contact the council’s Freedom of Iinformation Officer at the above address. If the officer is unable to help, then you should complain through the council’s complaints procedure – contact:

Corporate Complaints
Chief Executive’s Directorate,
Town Hall
Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG

Tel: 020 7364 4161
E-mail: complaints@towerhamlets.gov.uk

If you remain unhappy with the council’s response, you can then contact the Information Commissioner and ask him to investigate the matter. Contact:

Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel: 016 2554 5700
E-mail: data@dataprotection.gov.uk
Visit www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

How you can get more information on FOI

Further information on Freedom of Information is available from the Information Commissioner whose details are given above and from the:

Department of Constitutional Affairs
Selbourne House
54-60 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QW.

Tel: 020 7210 8614.
Visit www.dca.gov.uk/dept/contacts.htm