Requests for information

Requests for information

The Information Governance Team are responsible for processing all information requests under  data protection legislation, including the; Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR 2018. 

Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000, members of the public can access certain recorded information held by public authorities. This means that RBWM Council are obliged to publish certain information.

In accordance with the FOI Act 2000, we publish historical FOI requests and publish information under a publication scheme. 

If the information you are seeking is not available on our website you can contact us to make a request for information. 

You can make this request by emailing: foi@rbwm.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can post your FOI request to:

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Freedom of Information Team
Town Hall, 
St Ives Road, 
Maidenhead 
SL6 1RF

Apply for: Freedom of information request

Response time

We aim to respond as soon as possible or within the statutory twenty working day time limit from when we receive a request. 

Should we require further clarification, we will let you know and the twenty day time limit will begin the request has been clarified.

We request that you give us enough time to respond to your request before submitting a new FOI for the same information.

Charges

There is no charge to make an FOI request. However, this depends on whether the cost of complying with the request exceeds the appropriate cost limit as set out in law. In this case, we may advise how to narrow the search so that we are able to fulfil your request for information without applying a charge.

Requests for personal information (Subject Access Requests)

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) 2018, individuals have the right to access their personal information from organisations.   

You can make a request to access your personal information by emailing: DPO@rbwm.gov.uk.

Response time

We aim to respond as soon as possible or within the statutory one calendar month from the date we have received satisfactory identification documents. 

Should we require further clarification of your request, the time limit begins from the date the request has been clarified.

Charges

There is no charge for making a subject access request. However, this depends on whether the cost of complying with the request exceeds the appropriate limit set out in law. In this case, we may advise how to narrow the search so that we are able to fulfil your request for information without applying a charge.

Exemptions and Refusal 

Please note, we cannot provide you with records which we do not or no longer hold.

There are 23 exemptions under FOI Act 2000.

For example, these exemptions include commercially sensitive, legally privileged information or, information provided in confidence. 

A request may also be refused should it exceed the cost limit as set out in law.

If your request for information falls into an exempt category, we will tell you the reason why and which exemption has been applied.

If you are not satisfied with how your request for information was managed, you may wish to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): Contact us | ICO. 

Environmental Information requests

We process requests for information in accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).

You have a statutory right of access to environmental information held by UK public authorities.

You can request information under the EIR by contacting our FOI Team and similar to an FOI, we are required to respond within twenty working days upon receipt of a valid request.

Access to information under the Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 gives a general right of access to certain recorded information held by public authorities.

Under Section 19 of the FOI RBWM Council is required to have a publication scheme.

A Publication Scheme has been prepared in accordance with the Information Commissioner's Model Publication Scheme guidance. 

RBWM Council is committed to make information available to the public as part of our normal business activities. The information published is included in the classes of information linked below.

The Publication Scheme commits RBWM to:

• Proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by us and falls within the classifications linked below.
• Specify the information which we hold within the classifications linked below.
• Proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this Scheme.
• Produce and publish the methods by which specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by the public.
• Review and update on a regular basis the information we make available under the scheme.

Please see our FOI classes of information for more detail.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with our response to your freedom of information request, you can request an internal review.

This must be requested by contacting the FOI Team within two months of receiving your response from the FOI Team. 

There is no charge for an internal review.

Independent Review

If you are still unhappy with our response following our internal review, you can contact the Information Commissioners Office. 

Website: Information Commissioners Office