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1. Background The Freedom of Information Act became law on 30 November 2000. It establishes a right of access to all types of ‘recorded’ information held by public authorities and imposes obligations on public authorities to disclose information, subject to a range of exemptions. The individual right of access under the Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1 January 2005. Individuals already had the right to access their own information held on computer, and in some paper files, under the Data Protection Act 1998. This is known as the ‘subject access right’. As far as public bodies are concerned, the Freedom of Information Act extended these rights to allow access to all the types of information they hold whether personal or non personal. However, the public authority is not required to release information to which any of the exemptions to the Act applies. For a full list of exemptions, log onto www.dca.gov.uk The Environmental Information Regulations came into force at the same time as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). They provide a parallel right of access to information to that in the FOIA. They provide a general right of access to environmental information. The definition of ‘environmental information’ is wide and covers such things as waste, emissions, noise, land and historic sites.
One of the aims of the FOIA is that public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they will make public. Central to this is the preparation of a publication scheme, setting out:
The classes of information in our scheme are set out in section 9. Details of fees and formats for documents are set out in section 5. If, having searched the scheme, you cannot find what you are looking for, section 6 explains how and where to make a request for items not covered by our publication scheme. The scheme refers to all kinds of information, which we publish. Publication does not refer solely to printed material. It also includes information in other formats such as electronic documents. Much of the material covered by the scheme is available here on our website. The classes in the scheme are based on information type, which should be meaningful to users, and no knowledge of the Commission’s organisational structure is required to navigate around the scheme.
3. The role of the Local Government Ombudsman The Local Government Ombudsmen investigate complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities and certain other bodies. Their powers are contained in Part III of the Local Government Act 1974. There are three Local Government Ombudsmen in England and they each deal with complaints from different parts of the country. They investigate complaints about most council matters including housing, planning, education, social services, consumer protection, drainage and council tax. The Ombudsmen can investigate complaints about how the council has done something. But they cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. The Ombudsmen are: Tony Redmond, based in the London office; Anne Seex, based in the York office; and Jerry White, based in the Coventry office. The objective of the Ombudsmen is to secure, where appropriate, satisfactory redress for complainants and better administration for the authorities. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) places a number of obligations on public authorities (such as the Ombudsman) about the way in which they provide information. Subject to certain exemptions in the Act, anyone making a request has the right:
The information contained in the Ombudsmen’s complaints files is not available to the public. Section 44 of the FOIA exempts information if its disclosure is prohibited by another Act. The Local Government Act 1974, section 32(2) prohibits an Ombudsman from disclosing information obtained for the purposes of an investigation except in very limited circumstances including the investigation itself and any published report. There are other exemptions which may apply to information held by the Local Government Ombudsmen. These include personal information about staff and some third parties (section 40), information provided to ombudsmen in confidence where disclosure would be actionable (section 41) and information to which legal professional privilege applies (section 42). In the case of some types of exemption, the authority is required to consider if the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question outweighs the public interest in disclosure. There is a duty in the Act for public authorities to provide advice or assistance to anyone seeking information (for example in order to explain what is readily available or to clarify what is wanted). In general, public authorities have to respond to requests within 20 working days. They may charge a fee, which is calculated according to Fees Regulations. Fees may be charged for the time spent in locating or copying records, based on a standard hourly rate, but not in considering requests. If a fee is required, the 20 working days will be extended up to three months until the fee is paid. There is no obligation for a public authority to provide information if the estimated cost of doing so would exceed £450.
Most items listed under this Publication Scheme are on our website and can be downloaded free of charge from there. Some items are in .pdf format. To read .pdf documents you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free and available to download on our website. All our printed publications are available free of charge for single copies. Where charges apply for multiple copies, these are not in the full list of items but are on our order form. Investigation reports on particular complaints are available free of charge for up to five reports, and for £1.00 each for six or more reports. We only supply single copies of the same report free of charge. Multiple copies of the same report will be charged at £1.00 each. Typed material, such as investigation reports, can be supplied in large print if requested. Typed material other than investigation reports will not usually be charged for, but we reserve the right to charge for photocopying and postage where a large amount of material is requested. We also run a subscription service for investigation reports. Subscriptions can be for all reports issued, or for issued reports on one or more subject area. Costs vary according to the number of reports issued on each subject area and are charged annually in advance. Reports are sent to subscribers on a monthly basis. Subscriptions are available free of charge to voluntary bodies. For more details please call 020 7217 4686. Our leaflet Complaint about the Council? How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman is available in ten minority ethnic languages, in Braille, large print and on cassette tape. Our leaflet How the Local Government Ombudsman will deal with your complaint is available in ten minority ethnic languages and in large print. If you wish to request material available under the Publication Scheme, please use the order form. If what you require is not available under the scheme, please apply in writing to: Hilary Pook Fax: 020 7217 4621 When requesting information, please include the following details:
When the information you want is readily available, for example, where it is listed in the Publication Scheme, we aim to provide it within a few days. There will be some cases where it takes a little longer. In such cases, we aim to supply the information within 20 working days. 7. The Information Commissioner The Information Commissioner is responsible for overseeing the operation of the Act. He is an independent public official responsible directly to Parliament. As well as approving publication schemes and promoting compliance with the Act, the Commissioner has powers of enforcement. Richard Thomas 8. Complaints procedure on information requests Our policy is to be as open as possible and supply the information you have requested. If information within a requested document is withheld, the document will be clearly marked to show where information has been removed and the exemption we have used. If we refuse to supply all or part of any other information you have asked for we will write to you giving our reasons for refusal. If you are not satisfied with the reasons you have the right to appeal. You may also appeal if you believe any charges we have made to supply information are unfair. Your complaint will be dealt with by someone other than the person who dealt with your original request – this will usually be the Secretary or a Deputy Ombudsman. In the unlikely event that this is not possible, we will explain why to you. You will be given details of who to contact about any appeal you wish to make when we send our response to your request for information. Special help Please let us know if you have difficulty using our service, for example, if you have a disability or if English is not your first language. For instance, if you need an interpreter, we can arrange this. How long will it take? We aim to acknowledge written complaints within two working days. We aim to provide a full response to you about your complaint within 20 working days of receiving it. If, for some special reason, we cannot reply within that time, we will let you know and explain why. What happens if we agree with your complaint? If we find that we have not responded properly to your request, we will apologise and reconsider the request you made. If we find we should not have withheld information you asked for, we will send it to you as soon as possible and will tell you how soon you can expect it. What happens if we do not agree with your complaint? We will explain to you why we are not going to meet your request. If you are still not satisfied, you can apply to the Information Commissioner. Requests for an independent review by the Information Commissioner should be made in writing to:
9. Classes of information and list of publications To view the PDF files you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. It can be downloaded below free of charge.Click
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