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The Freedom of Information Act gives applicants the right to request information held by public authorities. It does not provide a right of access to personal information. If someone is requesting personal data this would be handled as a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act. Specific guidance has been produced on personal information.
Public authorities are obliged to provide information:
- through a publication scheme; and
- in response to requests made under the general right of access.When responding to requests, there are set procedures. These include:
- the time public authorities are allowed for responding to requests;
- the fees or amount that public authorities can charge for dealing with requests. Public authorities are not obliged to deal with requests if the costs of finding the information exceed a set amount known as the appropriate limit; and
- public authorities need not comply with vexatious or repeated requests.
The Act also recognises that there are valid reasons for withholding information by setting out a number of exemptions from right to know, some of which are subject to a public interest test.The Environmental Information Regulations set out the definition of what is environmental information. It includes information recorded in any form on:
- the state of the elements of the environment, such as air, water, soil, land;
- emissions and discharges, noise, energy, radiation, waste and other such substances;
- measures and activities such as policies, plans, and agreements affecting or likely to affect the state of the elements of the environment;
- reports, cost-benefit and economic analyses used in these policies, plans and agreements;
- the state of human health and safety, contamination of the food chain and cultural sites and built structures (to the extent they may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment).Requests for information can be made verbally or in writing (hard copy/electronic) to the Clerk of Newnham Parish Council.
A requester may wish to follow up a verbal request with a letter or e-mail confirming the terms of the request. A written record of a verbal request would be beneficial should a request result in a complaint to the Information Commissioner. This would assist the Commissioner in determining whether an authority has complied with the Freedom of Information Act and/or the Environmental Information Regulations.