Freedom of Information
You can ask us to disclose information about environmental matters too, for example information about:
- land development
- pollution levels
- energy production
- waste management
These will be handled under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).
Please note: on this page, we will use 'information request' to cover both FOI and EIR.
For more information, please see the ICO page: How to access information from a public authority.
Before you submit a request
Before you submit a request, check if the information is already available online.
Every public authority is required to adopt and maintain a publication scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure a significant amount of information is available without the need for a specific request.
Some environmental information is available, but its disclosure incurs a cost and will not be released without charge under EIR. If you wish to search the Local Land Register, please see our page on local land charges for more information.
How to make an information request
Subject to the exemptions in the FOI Act or exceptions under the EIR, anyone can make a request for information.
If you want to make an information request, please complete the form at the bottom of the page.
We must inform you whether we hold that information and, if so, must communicate that information to you providing no exemptions/exceptions apply. The request for information must satisfy certain conditions.
For FOI
It must:
- be in writing
- state the name of the applicant
- state an address for correspondence (postal or email)
- clearly describe the information requested
For EIR
The regulations do not specify how a valid request must be made. Requests can be made verbally or in writing, so a request could be made by:
- telephone
- letter
- online form
- social media such as Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)
- websites such as WhatDoTheyKnow
If the information you want is not already published by us, your request will be dealt with under
- FOI Act 2000
- EIR 2004
- access rights available to you under other legislation, such as the Data Protection laws
How long it takes
We aim to acknowledge your requests within three working days.
If your request for information is clear and the information can be provided, then you should receive a response within 20 working days of the request being received.
If the information requested is already published, we'll tell you where it is and how you can get a copy.
If your request is not clear, then we may need to ask you for more information to clarify your request. We'll write to you as soon as possible to do this.
Where we seek clarification, the time limit to respond starts when we've received an adequate response from you.
Please note: if we ask you to clarify your request and we don’t hear from you, the request will be closed after three weeks.
Complex requests may take longer than 20 working days to process. If we think this is likely to be the case, we'll tell you why and let you know how long we think it will take to deal with your request.
There may be a charge depending on the type of information you request, for example Local Land Charges search fees.
Further information is available from the The Information Commissioner website or the Ministry of Justice.
Exemptions (FOI) and exceptions (EIR)
Although we may hold information, it does not necessarily mean we can disclose it to the public.
We may need to withhold information by applying an exemption (FOI) or an exception (EIR) if the information:
- breaches privacy
- encourages and/or enables crime
- negatively impacts public safety
- significantly disrupts service delivery
When withholding information, we'll write to you telling you why. It may be that we can advise you on how to amend your request to enable disclosure of other information you may find relevant.
If you're not satisfied with our response
You can request an internal review if:
- we were late responding
- you don’t agree with the exemption/exception applied to withhold disclosure
- you are not satisfied with our response to your request
Details on how to request an internal review will be included in our response to your request.
We aim to acknowledge your request for an internal review within three days and complete the review within 20 working days. However, this may be extended to 40 working days if the review is complex. Where an extension is to be applied, we'll write to you as soon as possible to inform you.
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