- Burials
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- Cremation
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Is this a request under the Act?
An applicant may request information that needs to be considered under a different, or a number of different, access to information regime(s).
The most significant access to information regimes, apart from freedom of information, are under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
- Personal information and the Data Protection Act 1998
- Environmental Information Regulations
- Mixed requests
- Annex A: Freedom of information and Environmental Information Regulations
Personal information and the Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals the right to access information held about them by organisations. The Act governs how organisations can use the personal information that they hold - including how they acquire, store, share or dispose of it.
The Data Protection Act protects people's right to privacy in two ways:
- it sets out eight data protection principles that people must comply with when they deal with and disclose personal data
- it gives individuals a number of specific legal rights, in particular the right of access to their personal data
People can ask to see any personal information that is held about them by organisations. These requests are called 'subject access requests'.
The main features of the processing of subject access requests are:
- it applies to all personal data that is held by public authorities
- the public authority must reply within 40 calendar days
- the request does not have to cite the Data Protection Act
- there are a number of exemptions from the right of access
When an individual asks for his or her own personal data under the Freedom of Information Act, this should be treated as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998. It is important that you are able to recognise a subject access request, and that it is dealt with quickly and in line with proper procedures. The applicant should be advised of the procedure for making a subject access request.
The personal data of other people (that is, people other than the person making the request) may be exempt under section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act. In most circumstances, where requests for the personal data of a third party (someone other than the applicant) are made, the application of the section 40 Freedom of Information Act exemption will turn on whether disclosure of the information to a member of the public would be 'fair', under the Data Protection Principles in the Data Protection Act.
Guidance on the interaction between the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act can be found in 'Section 40: personal information' in the detailed exemptions guidance.
Environmental Information Regulations
Like the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give information rights to any person, anywhere in the world, but they deal specifically with information relating to the environment. This may include, for example, any decisions, activities and policy formulation that may have an impact on the environment.
The definition of environmental information is broad and includes:
- water pollution statistics
- information about the built environment
- the food chain
- cost benefit analysis of measures and activities which have, or are likely to have, an effect on the environment
- details of discharges and emissions
- any information relating to policies, plans and programmes that affect, or are likely to affect, the environment
The main features of the Environmental Information Regulations are
- requests may be made orally or in writing
- the public authority must reply within 20 working days
- there is a limited range of exceptions, all of which are subject to a public interest test
Environmental information is exempt information under section 39 of the Freedom of Information Act and any request for environmental information must be dealt with under the EIRs regime - see 'Section 39: environmental information' in the detailed exemptions guidance.
Mixed requests
Mixed requests are complex requests to handle. For instance, a number of requests you may receive may ask for 'all the information you have about my case' and in, say, a planning application, this may well give rise to the need to consider the request and different parts of it, under all three regimes. If you are unsure how to proceed, you should talk to your freedom of information practitioner for advice.
When responding to a mixed request, you should try to ensure that the request is dealt with within the closest possible timescale. For instance, a request which contains information which is both personal information under the Data Protection Act, and information to be considered under the Freedom of Information Act, you should aim for it to be dealt with within 20 working days. If you are not able to comply with this, you should ensure that the Freedom of Information Act information is provided within 20 working days, and acknowledge in the letter you send with the information that you are considering the release of other information under the Data Protection Act. You should also let the requester know when they can expect the further information.
