Unhappy about the response you got?

If ...

• You didn't get a reply within 20 working days
• You did not get all of the information that you requested or
• Your request was rejected, but without a reason valid under the law

... you can

1. Ask for an Internal Review at the public body.
2. If that doesn't help, complain to the Information Commisioner.

1. Asking for an Internal Review

Contact the Freedom of Information officer at the public body and request an internal review.

You should be able to find the email address for this by searching the website of the public body. If you filed your request using WhatDoTheyKnow, you can include a link to the page about your request, so the internal review has easy access to all the relevant correspondence.

The Internal Review should take 2-3 weeks for simple cases, and up to 6 weeks even for complex reviews. You will then either get the information that you originally requested, or you will be told that the review upholds the original decision.

2. Complaining to the Information Commissioner

If you are still unhappy after the public body had had an internal review, then you can complain to the Information Commisioner. To do this read Complaints about Freedom of Information on the Information Commisioner's website.

Again, you can include a link to your request on WhatDoTheyKnow, or print out the whole page of your request, to make it easy to send the relevant information to the Information Commissioner.