Data protection and freedom of information

Freedom of information

The Act

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 became law on 30 November 2000, and comes into full effect on 1 January 2005. It applies to all information held by public authorities which are subject to the Act, regardless of when the information was recorded. The purposes of the Act are summarised below:

• provides a right of access to recorded information held by public authorities
• creates exemptions from the duty to disclose information
• establishes the arrangements for enforcement and appeal

General right of access to information

The key feature of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is that, from 1 January 2005, it provides a general right of access to information held by those public authorities which fall within the scope of the Act. Information held by a public authority is information:

• which is held by the authority (except for information it holds on behalf of another person)
• and information held by another person on behalf of the authority

Information or records?

It is important to note that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not give an automatic right to Council documents or other types of records. Rather it gives a right (subject to any exemptions) to information contained within them. Consequently, there will be times when only some parts of a document can be made available.

Before making your information request

The Council already makes available a large amount of information via a number of means. Before lodging your request, it is important that you check whether the information you are seeking is already available to you. If this is the case, the Council is not obliged to deal with your request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Please first check the following sources:

• The Council’s Website
• The Council’s Publication Scheme
• The Council’s Libraries
• The Council’s One Stop Services

Who can request information under FOI?

Anyone can request information under the Act after 1 January 2005, regardless of age, nationality or location.

What information will be available?

Any information held by the Council is eligible for release. However, a number of exemptions may be applied to protect confidential information.

How do I make a request?

Your request must be made in writing. You can submit your request via the Council’s FOI Web Request Form, or by Fax 020 7641 2872. Alternatively you can write to:

FOI Team
Westminster City Council
64 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QP

Your request must include:

• Your name
• Your address
• A description of the information you wish to obtain
• Any preferences for the format for receiving the information

If you have a general enquiry about Freedom of Information or wish to enquire about a request you have already made please contact the FOI team using this online form.

The Council does not have to respond to broad requests for information. Please be as specific as possible and ensure that the description of the information you require is clear and detailed to enable us to identify and locate the information you are seeking.

If we do not have enough information in order to find what you are seeking, we may come back to you with more questions.

What happens when I make a request?

When the Council receives a request for information, we must respond promptly and not later than 20 working days after receiving your request. We will consider your request, and reply. The reply should confirm or deny whether or not we hold the information, and either provide the information you requested, or explain why it has not been provided.

What does it cost?

The Government has signalled that the Council may levy a charge if the work required to retrieve the requested information costs more than £450. If we intend to charge a fee, we will send you a fees notice and you then have 3 months in which to pay. Once we receive the fee we will then respond to your request. If the cost of meeting your request exceeds the appropriate limit in the regulations, we are not required to meet your request. If you refuse to pay the fee, the Council can refuse to supply the information. The Council also reserves the right to charge for disbursements e.g. Photocopying and postage. These fees do not apply to the normal charges made for some publications as set out in our Publication Scheme.

Full details how these costs are calculated can be found in our Charging Policy

What happens if my request is refused?

A request for information may only be refused if:

• it is vexatious or repeated
• if we have asked you for more information in order to meet your request and you have not provided it
• if it falls under one of the exemptions

If your request is refused, we will explain why and give you details of how to apply for an internal review of this decision. For details on how to make a complaint, see below. If, after an internal review, the Council still refuses your request, you may ask the Information Commissioner to review that decision.

Making a complaint

We will always endeavour to answer your queries and requests for information. However, if you do have a complaint please follow the Council’s complaint procedures. Information about this can be found under  Complaints and Compliments on our website.