Internal Reviews and Complaints

The Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give you the right to request information from the Council. If you think we have wrongly withheld information, you can request an internal review.

When should you request an internal review?

You can request an internal review if: 

• We have failed to provide the information you asked for;
• We have failed to tell you whether or not we hold information; 
• We have failed to respond to your request within the applicable statutory time limit;  
• We have failed to give you proper advice and help; 
• We have failed to give information in the form in which you requested it; 
• We have failed to properly explain the reasons for refusing the request; 
• We have failed to correctly apply an exemption/exception – in other words, we have refused to disclose information for the wrong reason; 
• You feel we have overcharged you for providing information        

There are three stages to this process:

1. If you are dissatisfied with the way we have handled your request or wish us to reconsider our decision, you can ask the Council to conduct an internal review by writing to the Information Compliance Team (details below).  Please note: internal reviews are specifically intended to review the Council's request handling processes if you have a general complaint about Council services please use the Comments, Compliments and Complaints process.  

2. If you don’t believe the Council has dealt with your review properly, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office.  You should do this as soon as possible, or within two months of the Council completing the internal review.  The Information Commissioner will issue you with a decision.

3. If you disagree with the Information Commissioner's decision, you can appeal to the Information Tribunal.

For further details please see RelatedLinks.