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Freedom of Information

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1. Purpose and Scope

Redruth Town Council (“the Council”) is committed to openness, transparency, and accountability in how it conducts its business and spends public money.

This policy sets out how the Council complies with its legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). It applies to all recorded information held by the Council in any format (including paper files, emails, electronic documents, minutes, reports, and audio/visual recordings), regardless of when it was created or who authored it.

Note: Requests by individuals for their own personal data are handled separately under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 as Subject Access Requests (SARs).

2. The Publication Scheme

In accordance with Section 19 of the FOIA, the Council has adopted the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Model Publication Scheme. The Council proactively publishes a wide range of core information on its website so that members of the public can access it immediately without needing to submit a formal request.

Information is grouped into seven standard ICO classes:

  1. Who we are and what we do: Organisational information, councillor details, locations, contacts, and constitutional governance.
  2. What we spend and how we spend it: Budgets, financial statements, annual governance and accountability returns (AGAR), audit reports, procurement, and contracts.
  3. What our priorities are and how we are doing: Strategic plans, annual reports, service performance, and inspections/reviews.
  4. How we make decisions: Agendas, minutes of Council and committee meetings, policy proposals, and public consultations.
  5. Our policies and procedures: Current written protocols, standing orders, financial regulations, and employment/service policies.
  6. Lists and registers: Statutory registers (e.g., Register of Councillors’ Interests), asset registers, and public logs.
  7. The services we offer: Details of local facilities, allotments, cemeteries, events, grants, and community services provided by the Council.

3. Making a Freedom of Information Request

Anyone has the right to request recorded information held by the Council that is not already available through the Publication Scheme.

To be valid under Section 8 of the FOIA, a request must:

  • Be made in writing (by email or letter).
  • State the applicant’s real name and an address for correspondence (an email address is sufficient).
  • Clearly describe the information requested.

Requests should be addressed to the Town Clerk:

  • Email: townclerk@redruth-tc.gov.uk
  • Post: Town Clerk, Redruth Civic Centre, Alma Place, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 2AT

4. How the Council Handles Requests

  1. Acknowledgement & Clarification: The Council will acknowledge receipt of a request within 5 working days. Where a request is unclear or too broad, the Town Clerk will contact the applicant promptly to provide advice and assistance to help clarify or narrow the scope (Section 16 duty).
  2. Statutory Timeframe: The Council will respond in writing promptly and no later than 20 working days following the date of receipt.
    • Extensions: Under FOIA, this deadline may only be extended if additional time is needed to consider the public interest test for a qualified exemption. Under EIR, an extension to 40 working days is permitted only for exceptionally complex and voluminous requests. In either case, the applicant will be notified before the initial 20 working days expire.
  3. Duty to Confirm or Deny: Unless an exemption applies, the Council will confirm whether it holds the requested information and, if held, provide it in the applicant’s preferred format where reasonably practicable.

5. Fees and Charges

  • Published Information: All information accessed via the Council’s website is provided free of charge.
  • Disbursements: For hard copies or information requested in specific physical formats, the Council may charge actual disbursement costs (e.g., photocopying at [e.g., 10p] per A4 sheet and standard Royal Mail postage).
  • Statutory Cost Limit (Section 12): Under the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, the appropriate cost limit for local authorities is £450 (calculated at a statutory flat rate of £25 per hour, equating to 18 hours of staff time spent determining whether the information is held, locating, retrieving, and extracting it).
  • If complying with a request will exceed £450, the Council is not obliged to comply. The Town Clerk will issue a refusal notice and offer advice on how the applicant may refine their request to bring it within the limit.
  • Where any fee is payable, a Fees Notice will be issued; the 20-working-day clock pauses until payment is received.

6. Exemptions, Refusals, and Vexatious Requests

While the presumption is in favour of disclosure, the Council may withhold information where an absolute or qualified exemption under Part II of the FOIA (or an exception under the EIR) applies. Common exemptions include:

  • Section 21: Information already reasonably accessible to the applicant via the Publication Scheme.
  • Section 40: Personal data, where disclosure would breach UK GDPR principles.
  • Section 41: Information provided to the Council in confidence.
  • Section 42: Information covered by legal professional privilege.
  • Section 43: Information likely to prejudice commercial interests.

Refusal Notices: If any information is withheld, the Council will issue a written Refusal Notice within 20 working days citing the exact exemption(s) relied upon, explaining why it applies, and—for qualified exemptions—detailing the outcome of the public interest test.

Vexatious or Repeated Requests (Section 14): The Council is not obliged to comply with requests that are manifestly unjustified, inappropriate, or an improper use of formal procedures (vexatious), or identical/substantially similar requests from the same person within a short period.

7. Complaints and Internal Reviews

If an applicant is dissatisfied with how their request was handled or wishes to challenge a refusal, they may request an Internal Review within 40 working days of receiving the Council’s response.

  • Requests for an internal review should be sent in writing to the Town Clerk (or Chair of the Council if the complaint concerns the Clerk’s handling).
  • The review will be conducted independently (by an officer not involved in the original decision, or by a designated committee/panel of Councillors) and a written outcome provided within 20 working days.

If the applicant remains dissatisfied following the internal review, they have the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under Section 50 of the FOIA:

  • Website: ico.org.uk
  • Telephone: 0303 123 1113
  • Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF