Make a freedom of information request

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 gives you the right of access to all information held by the Council.

Examples of previous requests include:

• numbers of parking tickets issued in specific areas
• maintenance of Council owned buildings
• decisions about street markings or traffic light settings
• details of suppliers of school dinners
• incident logs from the libraries
• details of overseas visits by Council officials

Read the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guide to freedom of information.

 

Information routinely made available – publication scheme

Before making a request for information please see our publication scheme which provides a guide to the information routinely made available to the public. You can also search this website to see if the information you want is already available.

We are currently working to update our disclosure log, due to this the disclosure log is currently unavailable.

Make an FOI request

Freedom of information (FOI) requests must be in writing.

Make an FOI request

Your request must include:

• the name of the person requesting the information
• an address for correspondence (a phone number or email address is also useful if we need to clarify your request)
• a clear description of the information required

Your request does not have to mention the legislation, and you do not have to tell us why you want the information, but the more details you can give, the more effective we can be in providing the information you require.

Responses are usually disclosed by email. Let us know if you require a different format.

Make a verbal request

Under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), 2004 you can make a request verbally. An officer will transcribe this and you will receive an acknowledgement.

Environmental information pertains to the elements such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements or factors.

What happens next?

We will acknowledge your request and we will assess the request. If we are unclear about exactly what you want, we will contact you to clarify exactly what you need.

The legislation limits allows a local authority to spend 18 actual working hours to deal with a request. If a request requires the collection and collating of a very large amount of information that is held by different service departments, it may take more than 18 hours to provide the information.

We have a maximum of 20 working days from the day after we receive the request to provide the information. If we need to ask for fees and/or any further information needed to clarify the request we will ‘stop the clock’ until we have received this.

Can you refuse my request?

There are a number of reasons for refusing to provide information, including:

• we do not hold the information
• it will take more than 18 working hours to provide the information (we will contact you and try to narrow your requirements)
• if an exemption applies (see below)

If any of these apply we will write to you explaining why we cannot provide the information, along with instructions on how to appeal against this decision.

Exemptions

There is some information that we cannot make publicly available without significantly disrupting the ability of the Council to deliver services, breaching privacy or confidentiality agreements, or endangering public safety. The Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations both have a list of exemptions that can be applied in these circumstances.

There are 23 exemptions and a full list can be found on the Information Commissioner’ Office. Some of these do not apply to information held by a local authority.

Exempt information that we hold includes:

• social care records
• information relating to current contract negotiations
• disaster response plans as the release of these could endanger public safety
• current investigation records whose release would affect our ability to enforce the law

Embarrassment to the Council is not an exemption.

Some of the exemptions apply in all circumstances but for others, we have to consider whether it is more in the public interest to release the information than to withhold it.

If we do decide that an exemption applies we will tell you why, and where relevant, the public interest reasons for doing so. You can appeal against this decision and details of how to do this will be included in our response.

What will it cost me?

Most requests under freedom of information or the environmental information regulations are met at no cost to the requester. For requests that take less than 18 working hours to process, no charge will be made except for postage and photocopying.

Photocopying and postage costs are:

• 10p per page (black and white) or
• 50p per page (colour) and
• actual postage costs

We do not charge if the total cost is less than £10.

However, there are some instances where we will require a contribution to the cost of providing the information.

If a request will take more than 18 working hours to collate the information, we are not obliged to provide the information. In some circumstances we may agree to provide the information but ask the requester to contribute to the cost of meeting the request. In these circumstances, we will charge an hourly rate of £25 after the first 18 working hours.

You will be advised of any charges before the information is collected. Please make all Cheques payable to London Borough of Hackney.

What happens if I’m not happy?

If you feel your request has not been handled well, or you disagree with the Council’s decision you can ask for an Internal Review, stating what you are dissatisfied with. Details of how to request a review will be provided with any response to your request.

An officer will review your case to determine if it was handled in line with the requirements of the legislation. If they decide that information should not be exempt then it will be released.

If you are not satisfied with the Council’s  decision (or with the way your request is being handled) you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights.

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

FOI action plan

See FOI action plan (google docs).