Freedom of Information

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:

A Full copy of the ICO Guidance on How to access information from a Public Body may be viewed at:  http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/official_information

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:

[Your full address]

[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]

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.  Please click this link to view the ICO Decision Notice 14 April 2014

 

Freedom of Information Request Responses

Date of FOI Request FOI Ref Subject Links to Response (Redacted)
01 September 2020 20200901 Zoom meeting recordings 2020-10-08-Response-20200901_Redacted.pdf
11 May 2020 20200511 Communications 2020-05-14-Acknowledgement
26 April 2020 20200426 Communications 2020-08-14-Response
30 January 2020 2020013003 Weekly Digest 2020-02-27-Response-FOI-202001303
30 January 2020 2020013002 Pay Increases 2020 2020-02-27-Response-FOI-202001302

Decision Notice IC-49288-Y9Z2

30 January 2020 2020013001 Pay Increases 2016 2020-02-27-Response-FOI-202001301
21 January 2020 20200121 SLCC Presentation 2020-02-18-Response-20200121
11 November 2019 20191111 Confidential Emails 2019-11-11-Response
15 March 2019 20190315 GDPR 20190315-Response 
12 March 2019 20190312 GEM meeting 2015 20190319-Response 
18 February 2019 20190218 Swimming Pool information 20190218-Final-Response
23 October 2018 20181023 War Memorial Correspondence 2018-11-23-Response
17 September 2018 20180917 Cattle Market 20180912-Response

2016

2016/001 – CCTV
Additional Information Request Response
2016/003 – Additional Information Request

Data Protection Act 1998 and Subject Access Requests