Better Transport

Please do not abuse these laws by asking unnecessary or frivolous requests. If an authority receives a deluge of frivolous requests it can bundle all the requests together and refuse them on costs grounds.

Make sure that the information you wanted isn't already published, by looking through the publication scheme and searching the authority’s website. If the information is already available your request will be refused.

Once you are sure the information does not exist on the council or Highways Agency website, then you are ready to make a request. You should be able to find out how to make a request easily on the authority’s website. If not, Friends of the Earth Rights and Justice Centre has a superb online request generator which will direct your request straight to the authority’s FOI department. However it is always a good idea to do it from your own email system, because then you have a record of the request on your system.

An FOI request must be in writing but an EIRs request can be made verbally - although we don't recommend that because then you won't have a record of the request.

A popular misconception is that you have to state that you want the information under the FOI Act or the EIRs. You do not have to even mention the FOI Act or the EIRs – you just ask for something! However if your request is related to environmental information Campaign for Better Transport would recommend you mention the EIRs in your request, so that the authority follows the EIRs rather than the FOI Act, because the EIRs are stronger and clearer.

Decide what it is exactly you want to see
It is a good idea not to make your request too broad and vague because it may be refused on costs or other grounds. It is better to ask for something specific or something within a limited timeframe. So instead of saying that you would like to see "all information relating to the Sometown Bypass" you would ask for "all information relating to the planning application for the Sometown Bypass". Or you might ask for "all correspondence between Sometown Borough Council and the Department for Transport between June 2005 and June 2007."

You will need to:

• Include your name and address
• State your request clearly
• State whether you’d like the information by post or email

You do not need to state the purpose for which you want the information. This is irrelevant and the public authority should not take any account of your motivation.

It’s always a good idea to ask for an acknowledgement of your request.

Example request

I would like to make a request using the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

I would like to request all correspondence between Sometown Borough Council, the Department for Transport and the Government Office for the South West regarding the Sometown Bypass between June 2005 and June 2007.

I would like this information sent to me in hard copy format to the address below.

If there are any problems with this request please contact me as soon as possible.

I would appreciate an acknowledgement of this request.

Thank you.
Yours, NAME, ADDRESS, EMAIL ADDRESS

The authority has a duty to reply within 20 working days. When you submit your request make a note in your diary of when they should respond.

If there are any problems with your request the authority has a duty to advice and assist you (under Section 16 of the FOI Act and Regulation 9 of the EIRs). Once your request has been clarified, the authority has 20 working days to respond under the FOI Act. The EIR allows 40 working days for a complicated request.

All being well, the authority should respond by 20 working days with a decision letter, and all the information you requested. However things often don’t work out so simply…

If you're turned down

Paying for the request
In theory the authority can charge you for answering the request but in practice it is very rare for them to do this. If the authority does decide to charge you it is only allowed to make you pay for the costs of photocopying and postage, not for their time in locating the information and copying it.

There has been plenty of guidance from the Information Commissioners Office  about what constitutes reasonable charges. For instance the office put a stop to local councils charging ridiculous amounts for photocopying and stipulated that they should not charge more than 10p per copy. They also said that staff should not charge more than £25 per hour for their time when trying to estimate how much it would cost to answer your request.

DCA guidance on feesFees regulations