Guidance for individuals requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act
As from 1 January 2005 you have the right, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, to request any information held by the College which it has not already made available through its publication scheme. To help the College respond to your request as quickly as possible, please use the following guidance.
- Requests should be made in writing (by e-mail or post) wherever possible
- Enquirers should provide us with an address for correspondence
- To save time, please make your enquiry as specific as possible. We are happy to offer guidance about the framing of enquiries.
- Your enquiry will be dealt with within 20 working days, as specified by the Act.
- If the costs of locating and collating the information would exceed maximum limit set by the government of £450, then the College may not comply with your request or may ask you to meet our reasonable costs in doing so.
- The College will provide copies of documents up to 10 pages long free of charge. Documents that exceed this limit may be charged for at a rate of 20p per sheet.
- If we intend to charge a fee, we will notify you as soon as possible after receiving your request. We will proceed with your enquiry once we have received your fee and respond within 20 days, less the time that it has taken to issue you with the fees notice.
- The College is not required to release information to which an exemption in the Act legitimately applies. However, we will explain to the enquirer why we have decided not to release information that we believe to be exempt.
- If you are not satisfied with the way that the College has dealt with your request, please address your complaint to Churchill College, Storey’s Way, Cambridge CB3 0DS.
- If the College is unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right under Freedom of Information Act 2000, s 50, to apply to the Information Commissioner “for a decision whether, in any specified respect, a request for information made by the complainant (ie yourself) to a public authority (ie the College) has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of Part I” of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If you wish to exercise this right, you should contact the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Contact
The Freedom of Information Officer
Churchill College
Storey’s Way
Cambridge
CB3 0DS
