The Freedom of Information Act gives everyone the right to access information held by public authorities, of which Surrey Heath Borough Council is one.
If you are unable to find the information you require under our Publication Scheme, The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right make a direct request for the information.
Any person making a request has the right to be informed in writing by the Council as to whether it holds information of the description specified in the request and if that is the case to have that information communicated.
Your request must:
- Be in writing - fax and email are acceptable
- State the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence
- Describe the information required
If your request is not specific and we are unable to find the information requested, we will have to write to you requesting further information. Please therefore help us to find the information requested the first time by being clear and precise.
Submit a Freedom of Information request
You can also submit a written request by email to foi@surreyheath.gov.uk (link sends e-mail) or in writing to Surrey Heath Borough Council, Surrey Heath House, Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3HD.
The Council has up to 20 working days in which to respond to an FOI request but will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible. The first working day after the request is received will be the first day. Public holidays and bank holidays in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are counted as non-working days. We will acknowledge its receipt though.
Additional information
Remember, you do not have to make a formal request in order to receive information. If you have a routine enquiry you can call us.
If you have problems with writing, contact the Information Governance team who will help you write the request.
You do not have to say it is an Freedom of Information request but it may help direct your request internally and focus the reply.
Please make your request as clear and specific as possible. You do not have to say why you want the information but it can help us focus on finding the information you are most interested in. We may, if necessary, write back asking for clarification. When this happens the request will be put on hold. If after three months no response has been received the request will be closed.
Your request must be for information and not opinion. Under the Freedom of Information Act the Council is not obliged to write new reports in order to extract the information from our systems. This is particularly relevant where you are asking for statistics. In some cases we may only be to able to supply raw data.
If to locate the information will take more than 18 hours we can refuse the request or submit a fees request. We will try and offer advice and assistance to refine (change or narrow) your request. When writing a request do not ask for everything on a particular subject as it may take too long to find. Remember you have a right to information and not documents. It is possible a request for all emails or documents on a particular subject is may be refused.
If you wish to talk to us before making an Freedom of Information request, please contact us on the details below.