NEWS RELEASES
Access to information
12th January 2005
THE second phase of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has now come into force, giving District residents new rights to see recorded information held by Horsham District Council.
Under the terms of the Act, residents can submit a written request for information, and the Council will respond within 20 working days.
Requests can cover any information held in any format; be it paper, electronic or even recordings of Council meetings. There are certain exemptions to the information that can be supplied – for instance items that have national security, commercial sensitivity or confidentiality implications.
Any information supplied is done so free of charge, unless the costs of retrieving and processing amount to more than £450. Requests can be made either for copies of original documents, personal access to those documents or a summary of the information.
Ian Davison, Secretary and Solicitor at Horsham District Council and running the scheme at the Council said:
“The Freedom of Information Act represents a great step forward in opening up the workings of Government to the electorate.
"Residents can now find more detailed information than ever before about the issues that directly affect them.
"Local government has always adopted an open and transparent approach to the information that it holds, and the Freedom of Information Act will reinforce this in the minds of the public.”
Since February 2003, the Council has maintained a publicly available Publication Scheme, detailing all of the public documents it produces.
Further details about the Freedom of Information Act and the Publication Scheme can be accessed either by visiting the Council’s dedicated FOI website or by contacting (01403) 215470.
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CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
(01403) 215549