What rights do I have under the Freedom of Information Act?
You have the right to access information held by public authorities. For more information see our factsheet below.
What bodies are covered by the Act?
The Act applies to public authorities and companies wholly owned by public authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A full list of public authorities covered by the Act can be found on the Department of Constitutional Affairs website.
Will I be able to get any information I want?
Not always. The Act recognises that there will be valid reasons why some kinds of information may be withheld, such as if its release would prejudice national security or damage commercial interests. See our guidance for more details.
Public authorities are not obliged to deal with vexatious or repeated requests. In addition the Act does not provide the right of access to personal information about yourself. This is instead available under the Data Protection Act 1998, again subject to certain exemptions.
How long will I have to wait to get the information?
The public authority generally has 20 working days to provide the information that you have requested. See our guidance on time for compliance.
What can I do if I am unhappy with the way my request has been dealt with, or with the information provided?
You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. For further details on this, see the complaints section.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint informally, we will issue a decision notice stating whether or not the public authority has complied with the Act. See our latest decision notices.
Making an FOI request?
The Constitution Unit, a research body at University College London, is carrying out an independent study of the Freedom of Information Act in co-operation with a number of public authorities. An important part of the evaluation process is gathering the experiences and opinions of FOI requesters like you.
If you would like to take part, please click the link below. To find out more, contact Ben Worthy at b.worthy@ucl.ac.uk, or call +44 20 7679 4974.
Any information you provide will be seen by the Constitution Unit only and will be handled in accordance with its privacy policy explained in the survey.
Take part in the survey