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Transferring requests

If you do not hold the information that has been requested, but you believe that some, or all of the information requested, is held by another public authority, you should consider what would be the most helpful way of assisting the applicant with his or her request.

In most cases this will mean:

• contacting the applicant and informing him or her that the information requested may be held by another public authority
• suggesting that the applicant reapplies to the authority which you believe may hold the information
• providing him or her with contact details for that authority.

In some cases, you might think it is more appropriate to transfer the request to another public authority. In this case, you should consult the other authority to find out whether it does in fact hold the information and, if so, whether it is obliged to confirm this under section 1(1) of the Act. If that is the case, you should consider transferring the request. A request (or part of a request) should not be transferred without first confirming that the authority holds the information, and that it will be able to confirm this to the applicant when it receives the request. 

Before transferring a request for information to another authority, you should consider:

• whether a transfer is appropriate
• if so, whether the applicant is likely to have any grounds to object to the transfer. If you reasonably conclude that the applicant is not likely to object, you may transfer the request without going back to the applicant, but you should tell him or her that the request has been transferred.

Where there are reasonable grounds to believe an applicant is likely to object, you should only transfer the request to another authority with the applicant's consent. If you are in any doubt, you may prefer to advise the applicant to make a new request to the other authority, and to inform the applicant that the other authority has confirmed that it holds the information.

Where a request or part of a request is transferred from one public authority to another, the receiving authority should comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act in the same way as it would in the case of a request that is received directly from an applicant. The time for complying with such a request should be calculated by regarding the date of transfer as the date that the request was received.

All transfers of requests should take place as soon as is practicable and the applicant must be informed as soon as possible once this has been done. 

If you are unable to -

• advise the applicant which public authority holds (or may hold) the information
• facilitate the transfer of the request to another authority (or consider it inappropriate to do so)

- you should consider what advice, if any, you can provide to the applicant to enable him or her to pursue his or her request.

See also see the Code of Practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions, issued under section 45 of the Freedom of Information Act, Part III: 'Transferring requests for information'.