Make a freedom of information (FOI) request

Your right to access information

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you can request access to the information we hold about you.

You can also request access to all types of information we hold, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you request information from us, we must:

• tell you if we hold the information
• give you the information (subject to exemptions).

Before you make an FOI request

Before you make an FOI request, you should check if the information is already available. We are legally required to maintain a publication scheme, which lists information we routinely publish about the Council. It includes:

• the types of information we hold
• the way the information is, or will be, published
• if you need to pay to access the information.

How to make an FOI request

You should make an FOI request if you can’t access the information you need:

• on our website
• after contacting the relevant service area.

To make a request, email our Corporate FOI Team using the email below. You must include:

• what information you are requesting
• your name and address or email address so we can reply.

You can get guidance about your rights under the FOI Act from the Information Commissioner's Office.

Public authorities normally have 20 working days to respond to a freedom of information request. Extra time may be allowed in certain circumstances.

There may be times when it may take us longer to respond to your freedom of information request. If this is the case, we will write to let you know when you will receive a response.

Reuse of public sector information

The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (RPSI) allow you to ask for permission to use public sector information for a different purpose from that originally intended.

The reuse of public sector information allows individuals, organisations and businesses to utilise these resources for purposes beyond their original intent, potentially fostering innovation, research, and economic growth.

RPSI is not intended to be used to provide information. Provision of information is dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 200 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Information covered

All information we produce for our core responsibilities within our 'public task' is covered by the regulations except for:

• anything for which we do not hold the copyright
• crests logos and insignia
• information restricted by legislation
• information exempt from disclosure under information access legislation

If you wish to request to reuse public sector information from us you should email foi@lewisham.gov.uk providing the following information:

• your full name and contact details
• a clear description of the information you wish to reuse
• the purpose for which you intend to reuse the information
• any specific format or medium in which you require the information

How we will respond to your request

We will respond to you within 20 working days from the date we receive your request. Our response will provide the information requested or indicate where you can access it. If we cannot provide the information we will tell you why.

If we need to make a charge for supplying the information because of the amount of work involved or the way it is supplied we will advise you of the amount before we supply the information.

Do you need to ask permission?

You do not need to make a request under the RPSI regulations if the information is already available on our Publication Scheme, Open data and transparency or Disclosure Log pages. This information is made available under the Open Government Licence.

Open Government Licence

Unless otherwise stated, Lewisham Council owns the copyright of all material affected by the RPSI regulations. Where we provide it to you under the Open Government Licence (OGL) you:

• may copy, distribute and display the material, and where appropriate perform it, adapt it to your needs and make commercial use of it
• must give the original author credit, make the information freely available, and clearly and visibly state the date you obtained the information from us - it must be completely clear to anyone obtaining the information that it has come from the Lewisham Council
• must, if you incur additional costs to make this information available to a third party, make it clear that the information is freely available on request from Lewisham Council

More information about the Open Government Licence is available on the National Archives website.

Making a complaint

Complaints will be handled be in line with our Freedom of Information complaints procedure.

You should:

• make your complaint to foi@lewisham.gov.uk
• clearly why you are making a complaint
• set out what we can do to resolve your complaint

We will:

• review how we handled your request
• respond within 20 working days
• let you know if the 20-day timeframe cannot be met and why
• respond to you giving reasons for the decision
• explain that you can take your complaint to the ICO if you are dissatisfied with our response