Freedom of Information

We will acknowledge your request and provide you with a deadline for a response.

If we need more detail from you to identify the information you are looking for, we will contact you as soon as possible.

We are required to respond by providing the information within 20 working days, unless there is a valid reason why this is not possible such as an Exemption.

Our response will include confirmation of whether or not we hold the information you have requested. Wherever possible, we will provide the requested information. Sometimes sections will be redacted from the information supplied to you, for example personal information about individuals. We will explain the reasons for the redactions in our response.

In some circumstances a request may be refused. If this is the case, a Refusal Notice will be issued to you explaining why we are not releasing the information.

If you make a request for a dataset in an electronic form, we will provide this in a reusable form and issue a licence so that the data can be reused where we hold the copyright, provided that this is appropriate and reasonably practicable.

If you are dissatisfied with the way London Councils has responded to your request for information, you may complain and request an internal review.

An internal review can investigate complaints about procedure, for example delays in response times, and complaints about the response itself, for example if you believe we have wrongly withheld information.

Please note that complaints about the handing of a request for information under EIR must be submitted within 40 working days of London Council’s response. For freedom of information complaints we recommend that you request an internal review as soon as possible and within two calendar months of London Council’s response.

A request for an internal review should be made in writing either by email to FOI@londoncouncils.gov.uk. Please give us as much information as possible about the reasons for requesting an internal review.

The internal review will be conducted by someone senior to the person who took the original decision where practicable, or if not, by someone different to the original decision maker but who is trained and understands Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulations.

Internal reviews of requests made under Freedom of Information will normally be conducted within 20 working days from receipt of the review request. Occasionally, a review will take longer than 20 days in which case we will write and provide you with a revised timeframe and explain the reasons for the delay.

Internal reviews of requests made under Environmental Information Regulations will normally be conducted within 40 working days from receipt of the review request.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome following an internal review, you can then complain to the Information Commissioner.

If, following the internal review, you remain dissatisfied with London Councils response, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The Information Commissioner is a Crown appointment, responsible for monitoring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations.

Our internal review response will include contact details for the ICO. Further information about complaining to the ICO is available on the ICO’s website.