Official Information Request

We will acknowledge your request and you will receive our decision on whether we can provide you with the requested information within 20 working days, unless this timeframe is extended under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LOGOIMA).

If your request is complex, involves a large amount of research and collation, or requires us to consult with other parties, it may take additional time to collate our response. If we need to do this, we will:

• let you know within the original 20 days;
• explain why additional time is required;
• tell you how much extra time is required and whether there will be a charge for covering our costs to collate the requested information;
• if the information you require is held by another organisation covered by LGOIMA, we may transfer your request to that agency. If we transfer your request, we will let you know within 10 working days of receiving your request.

You can ask us to treat your request as urgent. If you do, you need to provide a reason and we will advise on what is possible.

We may withhold or refuse to provide information for reasons specified in sections 6, 7 and 17 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

If we withhold or refuse to give information, we will explain the reasons why.

The most common reasons include to:

• protect people's privacy
• maintain legal privilege
• enable our Council to carry on its commercial activities

Generally, requests for official information are free of charge. However, there are times when we will charge for official information provided to you; for example if there is substantial manual collation of information required. If charges apply, we will advise you of any costs before processing your information request. You can then decide to proceed, withdraw or refine your request. We might ask for some or all of the cost to be paid in advance.

We have set out our charging guidelines and rates below: