Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations

Overview

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) gives you the right to access non-confidential information we hold. The information can be held in various forms which includes printouts, computerised records, maps, plans, microfilm, audio-visual material and paper records.

The FOIA and EIR do not cover requests for personal information held about you. This can be requested by making a data subject rights request.

The Council will not disclose information about IT systems or software used for security purposes, please see the non-disclosure reasons and guidance published on our website on The services we offer page under the security/cyber security section.

Legislation

Requests for information are generally processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, requests for environmental information are processed under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Environmental information includes requests about:

• air
• water
• land
• the habitats of animals and plants
• emissions
• radiation
• noise and other forms of pollution
• policies, plans and laws on the environment

Making a request

You can ask for any information relating to the Council, however, your right to ask for information only relates to information held by us at the time that you make your request. The right is to access information rather than records or documents. Although you are not required to ask for any particular document, you must describe the information you are asking for in as much detail as possible.

If we don't have enough information to find what you want, we may come back to you to ask clarification, which will delay responding to your request.

Before you make a request, please check if the information you want is already published in our:

• Publication scheme
• FOI disclosure log
• Open data datasets

If the information is not already published, use the online form to make your request.

Your request must include:

• Your actual name, for example, John Smith, Angela Smith
• The address or email address where the information should be sent
• An outline of the information you would like

The How to access information from a public body guidance gives you more information about what you should include in a request.

Submit a request for information

If you do not have access to the internet, please send written requests to:

Request deadlines

You should receive a response to your request within 20 working days. However, the law allows us to alter the deadline in certain circumstances:

1. If we ask you to clarify your request, the 20 working day response deadline will restart when you respond.
2. If your request is for environmental information and is either complex or extensive, the deadline will be extended by 20 working days.
3. If we must consider whether it is in the public interest to release the information, the deadline may be extended by 20 working days.

We will inform you if the deadline changes.

Fees and charges

The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 allows us to charge for information requested in certain circumstances.

You will not be charged for information that is readily available, unless a charge is listed on:

• our Publication Scheme
• the Access to Information Charging Schedule 2023-24
• any of our websites

We will send you a 'fee notice' if a fee is required. The fee must be paid within 3 months. Unfortunately, if your fee is not paid your request will be closed.

Request refusal reasons

There are several reasons why we may not provide the information, if a legal reason applies under FOI or EIR.

These include, but are not limited to:

• we do not hold the information.
• it will take more than 18 working hours to provide the information (we will contact you and try to narrow your requirements).
• the information is already publicly available on our website.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have published full lists of FOI exemptions and EIR exceptions. 

For some exemptions/exceptions, we must consider whether the public interest in applying the exemption/exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. Examples of this include if we think the information is commercially sensitive or if disclosure would affect law enforcement.

If your request is refused, we will explain why and provide details of how to apply for an internal review of the decision.

Reuse and copyright

Any information we supply to you under FOIA and EIR should be for your personal use. We retain copyright to all information we disclose.

Information we supply to you that is owned by Derby City Council can be reused free of charge if the conditions of the Open Government Licence (OGL) are met.

If we do not own it, copyright licensing rules apply and you must get the owner's permission to use it.

Other information may incur a marginal cost under the Re-use of Public Sector Information (RPSI) regulations before reuse is allowed.

Complaints

We will always try to help you with queries and requests for information.

You are entitled to ask for an internal review of our response to your request if you:

• disagree with any exemptions applied to your request for information
• are not satisfied with how we have handled your request

Please see our FOI and EIR Complaints Procedure for more information.