The Freedom of Information Act has been in force since 1 January 2005 and all councils in Dorset are committed to providing the public with as much information as possible.
How to make a FoI request:
View the full copy of the ICO Guidance on How to access information from a Public Body.
The majority of requests are free, however there may be charges if the request takes over 18 hours work to compile or for photocopying charges over £5. A list of charges can be found in the Council’s Publication Scheme.
Data Protection Act 1998
Find out how to request your personal information.
Can I access my personal information?
You have the right to get a copy of the information that is held about you. This is known as a subject access request. This right of subject access means that you can make a request under the Data Protection Act to any organisation processing your personal data.
How do I make a request?
To make a subject access request, follow these steps:
1) Plan ahead
It will save you time if you do the following before writing your request:
- Find out the right department and the right person to send the request to. Calling an organisation’s helpline or checking their privacy notice or policy on their website may help you find this out.
- Check about the costs and fees in advance.
- Make sure you know all the information you need. Organisations are entitled to charge a fee for every request, so you may have to pay another fee to get information you have not included in your original request.
2) Write to the organisation
When requesting your personal information from an organisation, you should include the following information:
- your full name, address and contact telephone number;
- any information used by the organisation to identify or distinguish you from others of the same name (account numbers, unique ID’s etc);
- details of the specific information you require and any relevant dates, for example: – your personnel file; – emails between ‘A’ and ‘B’ (between 1/6/11 and 1/9/11); – your medical records (between 2006 & 2009) held by Dr ‘C’ at ‘D’ hospital; – CCTV camera situated at (‘E’ location) on 23/5/12 between 11am and 5pm; – copies of statements (between 2006 & 2009) held in account number xxxxx .
It may also be helpful to include:
- a reference to the 40-day deadline that applies when dealing with requests to provide personal information;
- a reference to the Data Protection Act 1998 and subject access requests; and
- reference to the assistance that the Information Commissioner’s Office can provide.
Alternatively, you may wish to use the template below:
[Phone number]
[The date]
[Name and address of the organisation]
Dear Sir or Madam
Subject access request [Your full name and address and any other details to help identify you and the information you want.]
Please supply the information about me I am entitled to under the Data Protection Act 1998 relating to: [give specific details of the information you want, for example
- your personnel file;
- emails between ‘A’ and ‘B’ (between 1/6/11 and 1/9/11);
- your medical records (between 2006 & 2009) held by Dr ‘C’ at ‘D’ hospital;
- CCTV camera situated at (‘E’ location) on 23/5/12 between 11am and 5pm;
- copies of statements (between 2006 & 2009) held in account number xxxxx).]
If you need any more information from me, or a fee, please let me know as soon as possible.
It may be helpful for you to know that a request for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 should be responded to within 40 days.
If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you and can be contacted on 0303 123 1113 or at ico.org.uk
Yours faithfully
[Signature]
ICO Decision Notices
Information Commissioner’s Office – Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Decision Notice
Following a complaint made to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the complaint has been considered by the Commissioner and the decision notice sets out the reasons for the decision.View the ICO Decision Notice 14 April 2014.
Freedom of Information Requests Received
2026
Castle Hill Steps, Resident ref 002
24 January 2026, follow up
25 January 2026, follow up
Contract between STC and Peninsula Business Services, Resident ref 001
05 January 2026, Read the response
2025
STC Subscriptions to professional bodies, Resident ref 001
20 December 2025, Read the response
Councillor WhatsApp Group chat, Resident ref 002
10 November 2025
18 November 2025, follow-up, Response sent 01 December 2025
08 December 2025, follow-up
17 December 2025, follow-up, Response sent 23 December 2025
22 December 2025, follow-up
24 December 2025, follow-up
Castle Hill steps, Resident ref 002
12 August 2025
18 August 2025, follow-up
27 August 2025, follow-up, Read the response
10 September 2025, follow-up, Read the response
12 September 2025, follow-up
19 September 2025, follow-up, Read the response
14 October 2025, follow-up, Read the response
11 November 2025, follow-up, Read the response