Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations Policy

1 - Introduction

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (collectively 'the legislation') place obligations on public authorities to both publish and provide information on request.

Every person has a statutory right to request any recorded information held by the council, regardless of when or by whom it was created or the form in which it is held.

2 - Policy statement

The council is committed to being open and transparent in the conduct of its operations and to complying fully with the legislation. To this end the council will:

• Publish as much information about its activities as is practicable and, subject to the provisions of the legislation, will make all other information available on request.
•  Establish records management practices to be able to more easily determine whether requested information is held, where it is held and make its retrieval as straightforward as possible.
• Deal with all requests for information in accordance with the legislation.
• Have regard for the guidance published by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
• Provide information under the Open Government Licence (opens new window) wherever possible.

3 - Scope of policy

The Policy applies to:

• All recorded information held by the council in any format including information in the possession of third parties which is held on behalf of the council.
• All council employees and elected representatives.

4 - Roles and responsibilities

Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO)

Ultimate responsibility for compliance with the legislation rests with the SIRO.

Information Asset Owners (IAO)

IAO are Heads of Service within the Council. Each IAO is responsible for the management of the information assets under their control. Accountability rests with the IAO to ensure the information assets within their service are managed in a manner which supports compliance with the legislation.

Information Governance Manager

The IG Manager is responsible for the management of the IG Team, including the training and development of the team to enable the IG Team to fulfil the council's obligations under the legislation.

FoI and Records Lead

The FoI and Records Lead is the technical subject matter expert, providing advice to the organisation on the application of the legislation.  The FoI and Records Lead is to monitor the quality and quantity of responses to requests for information, provide advice, guidance and support to the IG team and colleagues to ensure the access to information regime is operated in an appropriate manner.

Employees and Elected Members

Employees and elected members have a responsibility to process information in accordance with council IG policies and procedures.

5 - Training

The legislation requires that everyone working in a public authority is sufficiently familiar with the legislation that they can recognise a request under the legislation and take the appropriate action.  Subject specific training will be delivered to all employees and elected members as set out in the IG Staff Training Plan published in the IG Training Strategy.

6 - Publication of Information

The council will make information available on its website through a Publication Scheme in accordance with the ICO definition document for Local Authorities. Further information will be published as required under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.  Environmental information will also be made available through the website as required by the legislation.

7 - Requests for Information

Requests for information will be processed in accordance with the legislation, the associated statutory Codes of Practice and the ICO guidance on the handling of requests for information.

8 - Copyright and Re-Use of Information

Much of the information held by the council is protected by the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988, however, this does not prevent disclosure of information under the legislation.  Most of the information provided under the legislation is made available for re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). The OGL is a simple set of terms and conditions that facilitates the re-use of a wide range of public sector information free of charge.  There are also provisions in the legislation relating to the publication and re-use of datasets. When publishing or providing a dataset in response to a request it must be made available in a re-usable format with a licence permitting its re-use unless it is not appropriate to do so.

9 - Complaints Process

The council has in place a process for requestors to express their dissatisfaction about a response to a request for information they have made.  The complaints process is provided to every requestor as part of the response to their request.

10 - ICO investigations

On receipt of notice of an investigation by the ICO the FoI Lead is to take responsibility for the processing of the investigation.

11 - Policy review

This policy will be reviewed every five years or as a consequence of changes to the legislation which effects this policy.