Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, anyone has the right to request information held by public authorities or companies wholly owned by public authorities in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and non-devolved public bodies in Scotland.  Anyone can ask for information held by a public body, either as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation.

How to request information

Some of the information might already be on our website but, if not, then details on how to make a Freedom of Information request can be found by clicking here.

You can’t ask us for information by telephone as all requests must be made in writing (including e-mail).

When you ask us for information, please describe the information that is requested as clearly as possible – the more specific your request is, the easier it is for us to find the information for you.

We aim to respond to you within 20 working days from the date we receive your request. If we can’t give you the information you want within that time, we will contact you.

Sometimes there are good reasons why we might not be able to give you all of the information you requested. The Act contains exemptions that allow us to protect legitimate interests. For example, if you ask for information that might endanger health and safety, or information that might cause us to breach a court order, or for personal/confidential data, we would not be able to supply you with the information.

Subject Access Requests

The Data Protection Act of 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR) gives you the right to ask us what information we hold about you. It also sets out rules about how we process your personal data.

We keep personal information to allow us to provide you with the services you require, and to keep a record of these services.

You can ask us for a copy of the information we keep about you. This is called making a Subject Access Request (SAR).

To do this, you can apply online using a Subject Access Request Form. 

We aim to respond to you as soon as possible, but the Act says that we should reply within 28 calendar days.  If you think that any of the information is incorrect, then you must write to us, stating which data is incorrect and asking for the data to be corrected.  Within 21 days of receiving your request, we will tell you what has been done. But your requested changes must be factually accurate, and not an opinion.  If we do not agree that the information is incorrect, you can ask us to record your disagreement on your records.  You can also appeal to the Information Commissioner or the courts. 

Please also note that under the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR 2018, some information must be redacted (withheld) in order to protect the privacy of individuals. There are also other limited circumstances in which information should be redacted, and we will not be able to supply further information if to do so would breach the terms of the legislation.