Data Protection and Freedom of Information

We provide information to members of the public on all sorts of topics every day. In most cases, people phone, write or visit us, ask a question and we tell them the answer – it’s that simple. Whenever possible, we will continue to do just that.

However, there might be occasions when we are not able to answer a question quickly or simply and this is when you might want to request information from us under the new Freedom of Information Act.

Here, we give you an overview of what information you can and cannot request from us, under these two main laws:

• The Freedom of Information Act
• The Data Protection Act
• Separate rules apply to certain types of environmental information, as defined by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (or any subsequent amendments to these regulations).