Information Request policy

5.1    The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) create a legal obligation for Local and National Authorities specified within the relevant legislation to provide an over-arching right of access to all generic information held. This does not erase the Council’s obligations to other legislation and codes of practice or relevant exemptions/exceptions in the referenced legislation, which may prevent the Council from releasing information. The Council must however approach all requests with the assumption that information may be released, unless evidence implies otherwise and the relevant legislation allows for the information to be withheld. For more information, please visit the Council’s Freedom of information webpage or contact the Information Governance team at freedom@welhat.gov.uk.

5.2    The Council is also obligated to provide the right of access to personal information under the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations in the form of a Subject Access Request. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s Data Protection policy maintains the confidentiality of personal data held or processed whilst providing accessibility to individuals to their personal information. For more information, please visit the Council’s Data Protection webpage or contact the Governance Policy Officer at dataprotection@welhat.gov.uk.

5.3    The Council has an obligation to consider all reasonable and valid information requests if the information is held.. Records covered by this policy include all records (irrespective of the medium on or in which the information is carried) which are held by or on behalf of the Council.

5.4    Any request for recorded information held by the Council in any format will be treated as an information request. Requesters are not required to mention the legislations when requesting information and do not need to submit the request to the official Information Governance Team at freedom@welhat.gov.uk and/or Data Protection inboxes. Council staff are responsible for identifying these requests and forwarding them to the relevant officers and email inbox. .

5.5    Information requests must be submitted in writing. Correspondence that provides all the necessary details to process a request and the full name of the requester or organisation they are working on behalf of will be accepted as valid requests. For a Subject Access Request, proof of identity is required.

5.6    For Environmental Information Regulation requests and Subject Access Requests, requests may be submitted verbally as per the legislations, but Officers reserve the right to request for a written version or to create one on behalf of the requester for record keeping purposes.

5.7    Once a valid information request has been received the statutory deadline will begin and requesters will receive an acknowledgement email within 5 working days. If clarification is and/or fees are required at any stage, the statutory deadline will be subject to change depending on the type of request and when appropriate clarification/payment has been received. The statutory deadline for a freedom of information and Environmental Information Regulation request is 20 working days. The statutory deadline for a Subject Access Request is one calendar month.

5.8    The Council may extend the 20-working day deadline to 40-working days for a Freedom of Information request in circumstances where a public interest test needs to be conducted and could not be conducted within 20-working days. For Environmental Information Regulation requests, the 20-working day deadline may be extended to 40 working days in circumstances where the requested information is voluminous and complex. If an extension is applied, the requester will be informed within the original 20 working day deadline. For a Subject Access Request, the 1 calendar month deadline may be extended to 3 calendar months where a request is deemed as complex and voluminous.

5.9    Valid requests will receive a response either containing the requested information or the reasons why their requested information cannot be released with reference to, to the extent applicable and as appropriate, the relevant legislation or case law and the Information Commissioner’s Office case studies or Guidance.  In circumstances where the requested information is not held, requesters will be informed and Officers will provide contact details for an Authority who may hold the requested information, where reasonably possible. All responses processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 will contain a copy of the Council’s Information Request Appeal Procedure.

5.10    If a requester is unhappy with the outcome or handling of their Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulation request, they may request an appeal using the Information Request Appeal Procedure within 40 working days of receiving a response. For further information, please see the Council’s Information Request Appeal Procedure.

5.11    If a requester is unhappy with the outcome or handling of their Subject Access Request, they may request an appeal within 40 working days by emailing which will be consider by the qualified or deputy qualified officers determined in Appendix A.

5.12    If a requester is unhappy with the outcome or handling of their information request appeal, they have the right to appeal to the ICO.  Contact details for the ICO will be provided in the requester’s acknowledgement correspondence, response correspondence, the Council’s Information Request Appeal Procedure, and correspondence detailing the outcome of the requester’s information request appeal.