Overview
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, along with thousands of other Public Authorities must comply with the Freedom of Information Act. As an initiative to increase openness and transparency in Government, the FOI Act was passed on 30 November 2000, and has been phased in through each public sector.
What does it mean?
The Freedom of Information Act provides a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right, and places a number of obligations on public authorities.
Every Public Authority must:
- proactively publish information in a Publication Scheme. This is a guide to all the information that is routinely published.
- respond to written requests for information within 20 working days
Who will enforce it?
The Act will be enforced by the Information Commissioner, who oversees both the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. He is an independent public official, reporting directly to Parliament.
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and FOI
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ takes its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously, and hopes to make it as easy as possible to provide you with the information you require.
A large proportion of our information is already accessible on our website, or through our Publication Scheme, which will be continuously under review.
If you cannot find information in our Publication Scheme, you can submit a written request.
Making a request
Any written request received by the University will be responded to within 20 working days. Where possible, we will provide the information in the manner you request. This may be in the form of a copy or summary.
Alternatively you may wish to inspect the record. In this case please book an appointment with the Freedom of Information Officer.
Some information may be exempt from disclosure. Where this is the case, we will try to explain clearly which exemption we have applied and why, unless this in itself would release the sensitive information.
We encourage you to be as specific as possible when describing the information you are requesting, to help us in our search. This will also speed up our response, and ensure we provide you with all the relevant information you request.
The cost of locating and retrieving information is not chargeable up to £450 (2 ½ days work). Information will generally be free of charge, and the University will only charge disbursements when a large volume of information has been requested, and disbursement costs exceed £10.