Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information (FoI) requests can be made by writing to the council’s Corporate Information Governance Officer at the address below.

Please check our Publication Scheme first as the information you require may already be available. If the information is not available, please contact us by email or post with:

• your name and address for correspondence
• the information you require

To comply with FoI, Portsmouth City Council must respond to requests within 20 working days (subject to exemptions).

Where a fee is required, you will be advised and you must pay before the request is processed. If the fee is not paid within three months, the request will be considered lapsed.

Where requests are repeated or considered an intentional annoyance, the council will be under no obligation to disclose the information requested.

Personal information

You can find out what personal information of yours the council has, by writing a request to the Data Protection Officer. The data access request form is available to print and complete below.

Please include:

• a form of identification (passport or driving licence)
• a recent bank statement or utility bill

The following may also be helpful:

• any former names
• former addresses
• reference numbers given to you by council services

If you cannot come to the Civic Offices, or don’t have any form of identification please use the contact details below to discuss it with us.

Environmental information

A request under the Environmental Information Regulations can be written or verbal – more details in separate section below.

FoI requests

We will charge for FoI requests in line with the national FoI fees regulations. If the cost of finding and retrieving the information does not exceed £450 (equivalent to 18 hours work) there will be no charge, other than for disbursements.

If the cost exceeds £450 we will charge for all the hours at a rate of £25 per hour or decline the request – alternatively, we will assist the requester in refining the request to within 18 hours to ensure no charge will be incurred.

Disbursement costs are free up to £5 – above this, we will charge the full amount, including the initial £5. Where a fee is involved, we will issue a fees notice requesting payment – the request will not progress until the fees have been paid. The 20 working-day target for responding to requests will not begin until the fees are paid.

Data Protection Fees

There is usually no charge for requesting to see personal data about yourself under the Data Protection Act 2018, however, where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, or if you request a further copy of the information, we may charge a “reasonable fee” for the administrative costs of complying with the request. In these circumstances, the fee to be charged will be communicated in advance of disclosure of the information.

Environmental Information Regulations

Our charging policy for environmental information is the same as for FoI requests, as above.

Fees where other legislation applies

Where existing legislation applies to an information access request (such as the Town and Country Planning Act) the legislator’s own charging regulation will apply.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs associated with the provision of information in an applicants preferred format. Disbursements include postage costs.

Portsmouth City Council may disburse information by printing, photocopying, or copying to a CD-ROM, video or audio tape. If translation of content (requested under the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations) into another language is required, please contact the Data Protection Officer by email to DataProtection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or telephone 023 9268 8482.

Costs

• A4 black and white photocopies – 10p per sheet
• A4 colour photocopies – £1 per sheet
• A3 black and white photocopies – 20p per sheet
• A3 colour photocopies – £1.50 per sheet
• Copying to a CD-ROM – £11 per disc
• Postage – as charged by Royal Mail

You can appeal against an FoI decision made by the Council, or complain about the way we handled an FoI request or other FoI matter by following the procedures listed below, which are in line with the Council’s corporate complaints process.

Whether you are appealing against a decision or making a complaint about our services or staff, we promise to:

• take it seriously
• treat you with courtesy
• investigate fully and promptly
• resolve your problem as best we can
• respect your right to take your complaint further if you’re not satisfied

Step one

Your first step for appealing or complaining is to contact us using the following details.

Please email us at foi@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or write to us at the following address:

Corporate Information Governance Officer,
Customer, community & democratic service,
Portsmouth City Council,
Civic offices,
Portsmouth,
PO1 2AL

Appealing an FoI decision

In the first instance, please contact the Corporate Information Governance Officer (address and email above) who will review the decision. If the original decision is confirmed, the appeal will be moved to step two.

Step two

The City Solicitor will review the decision. If the original decision is confirmed and you are still dissatisfied, you should forward your grievances to the Information Commissioner’s Office by phone on 0303 123 1113, email at casework@ico.org.uk, or by writing to the following address:

Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF

To make a complaint

Contact the Council’s Corporate Information Governance Officer (address and email in the ‘Contact us’ section above) who will seek to resolve the complaint.

Step two

If you’re still dissatisfied, contact the Head of Legal, Licensing and Registrars, who is the head of service for FoI, on email at foi@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, or at the following address:

Head of Legal, Licensing and Registrars,
Portsmouth City Council,
Civic Offices,
Portsmouth,
PO1 2PX

Step three

If you’re still dissatisfied, contact the Chief Executive by telephone on 023 9283 4702 or by writing to the following address:

Chief Executive,
Portsmouth City Council,
Civic Offices,
Portsmouth,
PO1 2AL

Step four

If you’re still dissatisfied you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office by phone on 0303 123 1113, email at casework@ico.org.uk, or by writing to the following address:

Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF

The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 implement an EU directive that encourages the re-use of public information for purposes other than its original purpose. The aim is to stimulate the European information industry and enable companies to use our information for commercial purposes.

The regulations do not oblige public bodies to make their information available for re-use unless there is a statutory obligation to do so. They do oblige public bodies to:

• publish a list of the main documents which can be re-used
• publish any standard conditions associated with re-use
• publish any standard charges associated with re-use
• operate a request procedure
• operate a complaints/appeals procedure.

The regulations apply to any recorded information (as defined for FoI), including whole documents or parts of documents.

There are some exemptions to the regulations, including educational or cultural establishments, intellectual property that rests with a third party, and information that is exempt under FoI, Data Protection and other legislation.

Requests should be in writing but, unlike FoI, they must state the reason for the re-use. The Council must respond to requests and complaints within 20 working days, unless the request is very complex or volumes are large.

Complaints procedures must include escalation to the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and ultimately to the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information.

The regulations encourage public bodies to make the maximum use of electronic means in implementing them. For more detailed information and guidance visit the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website.

How to request to re-use information

To apply to re-use information, you should:

• submit the request in writing – including by email
• state your name and address
• specify which documents or pieces of information you wish to re-use
• state the purpose for which the document or information is to be re-used

Please send the request to the Council’s Corporate Information Governance Officer at the address below.

Making a decision

We will deal with your request as quickly as we can and will provide a full response within 20 working days. If we are unable to respond within 20 working days, we will contact you as soon as possible explaining why.

In some cases we will only permit re-use under a set of conditions know as a licence. Where this is the case, we will inform you of the licence conditions and whether there is a charge for the licence.

Appeals and complaints

If we refuse a request to re-use information, we will write to you and include:

• the reasons for refusal
• an explanation of our complaints and appeals procedure
• the identity of any third party, if known, which owns copyright and/or intellectual property rights which led to the refusal

Should you wish to appeal against our decision or make a complaint about the way your request was handled, please write to the Council’s Corporate Information Governance Officer at the address below. If, having heard the outcome of your complaint or appeal, you are still dissatisfied, you can refer your case to the Office of Public Sector Information by email at opsilicensing@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk, or by writing to the following address:

Office of Public Sector Information,
Admiralty Arch (North Side),
The Mall,
London,
SW1A 2WH

The council holds the following lists and public registers:

• premises licences and personal licences
• licensed drivers, vehicles and operators
• club premises certificates
• public register of small society lotteries
• land charges
• social landlords
• contaminated land
• planning
• electoral register
• births, marriages and deaths
• credit and estate agents
• industrial estates register

Asset registers and information asset register

• asset management
• specific information relating to the register is available by contacting asset management at asset.management@portsmouth.gov.uk

Disclosure logs

• We do not produce a disclosure log, information relating to previous requests is available under Freedom of Information at FOI@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Register of councillors’ financial and other interests

• interests are placed on individual councillor’s pages when they are declared

Register of gifts and hospitality

A copy of the gifts and hospitality register is available on request for you to view all gifts and hospitality received or declined by PCC employees. It also shows if gifts have been donated to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal or other charity.

Email: foi@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Telephone:  023 9283 4385

Post:

Corporate Information Governance Officer,
Customer, community & democratic service,
Portsmouth City Council,
Civic offices,
Portsmouth,
PO1 2AL