If you are not happy with our response to your information request or the way we handled it, you can ask us to review it.
Follow these steps:
- Contact the Freedom of Information team, quoting your request reference number.
- The Freedom of Information team will liaise with the council department that provided the response to your request. They will arrange for another, usually more senior, person to reconsider the decision or the handling of your request. The person who originally dealt with your request will not handle your complaint.
- If you are still unhappy with the response you receive following the review, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner.
- You must go through this internal process before contacting the Information Commissioner. The only exception to this is if we refused your request on grounds that disclosure was not in the public interest. In this case you can appeal direct to the Information Commissioner.
Time limits
You must request an internal review of a decision within:
- 40 working days of our original decision (Environmental Information Regulations)
- 60 working days of your request, if we did not reply (Environmental Information Regulations)
There is no time limit under the Freedom of Information Act, but we advise you to act promptly.
We aim to complete all reviews within 20 working days.
Contact us