Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public sector bodies by providing people with rights of access to the information held by them. It is expected that these rights will facilitate better understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money.

The Act came into force in two stages:

From February 2003 the Council had to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is both a public commitment to make certain information available and a guide to how that information can be obtained.

From January 2005 any person who makes a request to the Council for information must be informed

whether the Council holds that information, and subject to exemptions,
be supplied with that information.
You can find more information about the Act on the Information Commissioners website

How to make a request for information

The request must be in writing (this includes email or fax), it does not have to mention the FOI Act but it must include the following:

the applicant's name
an address for correspondence
description of the information required

You can complete our online request form or you can write to:

The Information Manager
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Room 29 Town Hall
Hall Plain
Great Yarmouth
NR30 2QF
Tel: (01493) 846132
Email: foi@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

The council has 20 working days in which to respond to the request.Personal InformationA great deal of information held by the Council is personal and private to individuals. The individual concerned has the right to access such information under The Data Protection Act 1998.

For further information about your rights under the Data Protection Act click on the link or alternatively you can look at the Information Commissioner's website

Refusal Notices
If the Council decides to withhold all or part of the information that is asked for, a letter will be sent to the applicant to explain which exemption is being used and the reason why the information is being withheld. The Refusal Notice will also tell the person applying what they need to do if they have a complaint about how their request was handled or if they want to appeal against the decision.

Complaints
All complaints with regard to Freedom of Information requests should go to the Information Manager in the first instance.

If the applicant is unhappy with the response they receive they can then ask for a review from the Monitoring Officer at the following address:

Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Town Hall
Hall Plain
Great Yarmouth NR30 2QF

Appeals
If the applicant is dissatisfied with the response from the Monitoring Officer they can then appeal to the Information Commissioner. The address to write to is:

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF