1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
|
<% @title = "Unhappy about a Freedom of Information request?" %>
<h1>Unhappy about the response you got?</h1>
<p>If ...</p>
<ul>
<li>You didn't get a reply within 20 working days</li>
<li>You did not get all of the information that you requested <strong>or</strong></li>
<li>Your request was rejected, but without a reason valid under the law</li>
</ul>
<p>... you can</p>
<ol>
<li>Ask for an <strong>internal review</strong> at the public authority.</li>
<li>If that doesn't help, complain to the <strong>Information Commisioner</strong>.</li>
<li>Either way, also <strong>use other means</strong> to answer your question.</li>
</ol>
<h1 id="internal_review">1. Asking for an internal review</h1>
<p>You can use WhatDoTheyKnow to request an internal review. Go to your
request and choose "send follow up" message, then write a message asking
for an internal review of your request. You may want to include a link to the request
page, to make it clear which request you are talking about.
</p>
<p>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.
</p>
<!-- XXX need decent link to more detailed instructions -->
<h1 id="complaining">2. Complaining to the Information Commissioner</h1>
<!-- XXX should include brief instructions inline, and link to more detail -->
<p>If you are still unhappy after the public authority has done their internal review,
then you can complain to the Information Commisioner. To do this read
<a href="http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom_of_information.aspx">Complaints about Freedom of Information</a>
on the Information Commisioner's website.
<p>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.
<p>There is a backlog of work at the Information Commissioner, and
it can take literally years to get resolution from them. If you reach this point,
you should accept that you won't get the information quickly by this means. Maybe
you want to help the fight to improve Freedom of Information, or maybe
getting the information slowly is still worthwhile. You can also try and
get the information by other means...</p>
<h1 id="other_means">3. Using other means to answer your question</h1>
<p>You can try persuing your problem or your research in other ways.
<ul>
<li>Make an FOI request for summary information, or for documentation relating
indirectly to matters in your rejected request.
<a href="/help/contact">Ask us for ideas</a> if you're stuck.</li>
<li>If any other public authorities or publicly owned companies are involved,
then make FOI requests to them.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.writetothem.com">Write to your MP or other politician</a>
and ask for their help. Often MPs can find out information which individuals can't,
by directly writing to ministers or departments, or by asking a written question in the
House of Commons. Likewise, councillors in local authorities can go and talk directly
to officers to try and find things out.</li>
<li>Ask others researching the same or similar questions for ideas. Perhaps you
can find them by browsing this site; you can contact any registered user from
their page. Perhaps there is an Internet forum or group where there are people
who know about the area you are researching. If it is a local matter, use <a
href="http://www.groupsnearyou.com">GroupsNearYou</a> to find such a
forum.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.pledgebank.com">Start a pledge</a> to get others
to act together with you. For example, you could arrange a meeting with staff
from the authority. Or you could form a small local campaigns group.
</ul>
|
