FOI Charges

A charge may be made at rates set from time to time by the Council for any photocopies sought and some publications are available for a fee.

The Council will endeavor to make clear to all applicants when a fee or other charge will be incurred. Applicants will have 3 months to pay a fee or charge before the application is considered to have expired.

The majority of costs for complying with requests will be met by the Council. The Act allows for public authorities to decline to comply with certain requests for information on the grounds of cost where these requests would be expensive.

Section 12 of the FOI Act allows public authorities to refuse to answer requests for information if the cost of complying would exceed the " appropriate limit" prescribed in the Regulations.

The "appropriate limit" for public authorities is set at £450. The Regulations state that the costs are to be estimated at £25 per person per hour.

Note: These provisions apply to the supply of information within the Scheme. Different provisions will apply to responses to individual access requests for other information made after 01/01/2005.