Freedom of Information Act - your right to know
Every individual and indeed any member of an interest group,
pressure group, action group or employee is entitled to make a
request for information from a public authority under the Freedom
of Information Act. This right came into force on 1 January
2005.
The term public authority covers over 100,000 different
organisations and locally includes Suffolk Coastal District
Council, town and parish councils and Suffolk County Council. At
present, it does not include housing associations and housing
partnerships.
Detailed
information about the Act (new window) can
be found on the Information Commissioner's website.
Making a Freedom of Information request
Requests for information must be made in writing (which includes
email) and must state your name and address (so that we can respond
to the request); but the request need not state that it is being
made under the Freedom of Information Act.
You can make a Freedom of Information request by emailing
foi@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk or
writing to us at:
Customer Services
Suffolk Coastal District Council
Melton Hill
Woodbridge
Suffolk IP12 1AU
We must confirm, subject to certain exemptions, that we hold the
information. Generally, we must give you the information within 20
working days and give advice and assistance, if deemed necessary,
to help you with your request.
We are not allowed to charge a fee for information that costs
less than £450 to produce. If there is a fee for costs above that
figure then we must tell you in writing. In addition a charge for
the cost of any photocopies will be made as this is not affected by
the £450 cost ceiling.
However, if we do charge a fee then the 20 days for responding
to the initial request is put on hold until the fee is paid. If,
after three months, the fee is unpaid it will be assumed that you
no longer require the information.
You may ask for a copy of the information sought; the chance to
inspect the records; or even to be given a summary of the
information. The Council will try to provide the information in the
form requested unless it is unreasonable to do so.
Exempt information
It should be noted that there are 23 exemptions that may apply.
The exemptions are in two sections; those that are absolute and
those that are weighed and assessed against the 'public interest'.
There is no definition of 'public interest', but in nearly every
case, it will prove to be in the public interest to release the
information, or publish it at a later date.
Where it is not deemed to be in the public interest to release
the information we must give you a reason in writing and an
opportunity to appeal against the decision.
In all your dealings with the Council, you must remember that
your entitlement is to the information, not to files. However, it
may be simpler and more efficient for us to provide you with the
relevant file.
The public already has the right to access personal information
under the Data Protection Act. The Freedom of Information
Act does not deal with this sort of information, so you will not be
able to seek any private and confidential information about other
individuals e.g. Council Tax, benefits, grants, etc. This is in
fact an absolute exemption.
Making a complaint
If you wish to complain about the way in which your request has
been processed then you must first complain to the Council
using our complaints procedure. If you have
followed our complaints procedure and are still not satisfied, then
you have a right of appeal to the
Information Commissioner (new window).
Publication scheme
Suffolk Coastal maintains a
publication scheme which lists information that
is routinely published and gives details of how to access it and
how much it costs if there are any charges.
Copyright
Information for which the Council holds the copyright may be
released under access to information legislation such as the
Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information
Regulations but this does not automatically mean you have
permission to reproduce it.
Information released can be used for private purposes but must
not be used for commercial purposes unless you have advised us you
wish to re-use it and you have our permission to do so.
The Council must ensure the conditions for the re-use are clear
and in keeping with the Council's copyright so a licence may be
issued detailing such conditions. Follow this link for
more about getting permission to re-use
information.
Disclosure logs
You can access detailed lists of all the Freedom of Information
and Environmental Information Regulations requests received by the
Council. These lists, known as
disclosure logs, give details of when a request
was received, details of the request, the response date and the
status of the response (whether the request was released in full,
in part or refused).
If you have any further questions please contact Customer
Services on 01394 383789 or email
foi@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.