Freedom of Information

With effect from 1 January 2005, you have a legally enforceable right of access to all recorded information, which public authorities, like Kent County Council, hold.

The Act gives you two statutory rights:

• To be told in writing whether or not we hold the information you have asked for, and if we do
• To have that information communicated to you, in the format of your choice

Our disclosure log shows details of all completed requests for information that we have received and dealt with under either the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations since January 2005. If we have not provided some or all of the information we were asked for, we have stated why not.

The Freedom of Information Act provides a statutory right of access to ALL recorded information that we hold, subject to certain exemptions to disclosure. Information accessible to you could be on any topic, including information about other organisations that we do business with. You have access to information held in any format or media; for example paper, microfilm, microfiche, photos, video, audio, email, computer files, post-it notes, with the exception of people's memories! The Act is retrospective so you also have a right of access to information created received or recorded prior to 2000 when the Act became law.

Individuals of any age or nationality, as well as corporate bodies or pressure groups can request information under the Act.

There is some information that won't be given on request. Some of our important documents have a set retention period; this means they must be kept for a certain period of time, usually to comply with statute, before they are destroyed. If we have disposed of the document in accordance with our retention schedule, we cannot be expected to provide it. We do, however, have a duty to tell you why the information you've asked for is not available.

In the near future, we hope to have information on this website about our records management policy and processes and our retention periods.

There are other reasons that we may not be able to give you the information you have asked for. This could be the result of an exemption to disclosure applying: for example if releasing the information you have requested would breach the Data Protection Act, would prejudice an ongoing court case or would hinder the prevention or detection of crime. However, we have a duty to tell you if we have withheld information and which one of the 23 exemptions was used as justification.

Making a request for information

To make a request for information you must put your application in writing (which also includes email and fax).

• You must state your name and an address for correspondence
• You must state clearly what information is required and how you would prefer to receive this information (for example a summary of the information, a copy of the documents that the information comes from, or a visit to inspect records in person)
• You do not have to mention the Freedom of Information Act or why you want the information, but it would help us to help you if you do.
  

By email: freedomofinformation@kent.gov.uk

By post: Information Resilience & Transparency Team, Kent County Council, Room 2.71, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.

By fax: 01622 696075

Once you have made your request we must respond as soon as possible; completing your request no later than 20 working days after we have received it.

If your request, however, is unclear, we will contact you to clarify exactly what information you are looking for. The 20 working days begins from the date you confirm details of your request.

In some instances, a charge may apply for supplying the information you want. If so, we will advise you of the cost and you will need to pay this before we proceed with your request. The majority of the information detailed in the publication scheme is available free of charge, but if it is not, details of costs are provided. If you are asking for any other information (not listed on the publication scheme), you may be required to contribute towards specific costs such as photocopying, translation services, or postage. If the costs of us looking for the information you want, extrapolating and collating it exceed £450 (which is equivalent to 18 hours @ £25 per hour), we do not have to comply with your request.

If you refuse to pay then we are not obliged to supply you with the information you've asked for.

We can refuse to supply you with the information you've asked for if:

• It would cost us more than £450 to locate and extract the information you've asked for
• Or it falls under one of the 23 exemptions.

Either way, we must write and tell you why we are refusing to deal with your request and which exemption applies. We will also give you details of how you can get our decision reassessed. If following reassessment, you are still unhappy with our response, you can ask the Information Commissioner to review our decision.

There is no limit to how many requests that you can make, providing each request is different. However, if you make repeated requests for the same information, or are obviously trying to disrupt our operations, we do reserve the right to refuse requests.