Anybody can request information under Freedom of Information or Environmental Information legislation. The process for doing so is the same irrespective of the legislation and is set out below. If your request is for your own information, you should submit a Subject Access Request.
Available information
Before submitting a request for information, you should review the information already published on the Council website. This can be in a number of places including:
- Departmental pages
- Open Data - Includes a number of datasets published in line with the requirements of the Local Government Transparency Code
- Publication Scheme - Sets out a range of information the Council is required to publish in line with the ICO’s model Publication Scheme and provides links to that information
- Disclosure Log - All our responses to FOI or EIR requests since July 2022 are published.
How do I ask for information?
If you are unable to find the information you require through any of the above routes, you can submit a written request in the following way.
What we need to know
You should:
- Provide a clear and specific description of what information we should be looking for (Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings)
- Include your full name and address or email address (these are required for the request to be valid). It would also help if you could provide a phone number so that we can contact you if we need to clarify any aspect of your request.
There is no charge for requests for information, although we reserve the right to apply charges for costs incurred such as photocopying, printing, postage and packaging, but only if these charges amount to more than £20.00; we would always inform you of this in advance.
Responding to your request
We will respond promptly to your request and in almost all cases within 20 working days. There are occasions when there are delays in obtaining the information requested and we will keep you informed in those cases. We will inform you if we do not hold the information requested.
Reasons we may not provide the information
We do not have to comply with a request where the cost of locating, extracting and collating the information would exceed £450 (based on 18 hours at a cost of £25 per hour). In such cases, we would normally advise you how you could modify your request to bring it within the cost limit.
There are a number of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and exceptions to the duty to disclose in the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If these apply to the information you have requested, we will explain that in our response to you.
What happens if I am not satisfied with the response I get?
If you have not received the information you asked for, or if some of it has been withheld, and you are dissatisfied with the response, the Council has a review process. You must contact us within 40 working days of receiving the Council's response, giving the reasons for dissatisfaction using one of the methods:
or
- By post - Information Governance, Wigan Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan, WN1 1YN.
Your request for a review will then be referred to a senior officer who will consider your request in light of your representations.
Can I complain elsewhere?
If you are still dissatisfied after the senior officer review, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the regulator for Freedom of Information. The primary way to escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office is to use the ICO’s portal (external link).
Can I have my personal information under FOI?
No. If your request is for your own information, you should submit a Subject Access Request.
How do we do?
We publish details of how we perform in responding to FOI and EIR requests. This performance data tells you how many responses are sent within 20 working days, how many exemptions are used and how many responses are referred to a senior officer review.