Introduction

This is the first of two chapters on how to respond to a request for information made under the UK and Scottish Freedom of Information (FoI) Acts. The UK Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) covers English, Welsh and Northern Irish public authorities and any public authorities which operate across the UK. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FoISA) covers Scottish public authorities only. While similar to the FoIA, the FoISA does deviate from it, particularly in the matter of exemptions.

Covered in this chapter are:

Covered in Chapter 3 are:

In both chapters, when I refer to ‘you’ I am thinking of the records manager or information manager who finds themselves in the position of having to manage responses to FoI requests. You can read through the whole of both chapters or dip into the parts that have the most relevance for you. I suggest reading through all of this chapter if you are completely new to FoI, as it covers not just how to process a request but also how to recognise a request or a non-request, and how to deal with vexatious and repeated requests. Most requests that you deal with will be to find information, package it and send it out, but others will be more tricky and this chapter provides guidance on how to process those trickier requests.

Handling requests: the basic method

The basic method for a one-person or small team to deal with a request for information is set out below. All points are expanded further in the chapter, but, to summarise, you will need to do the following: