Freedom of Information Act 2000/Code of Practice

Key points

36. Each public authority should have a procedure in place for dealing with complaints both in relation to its handling of requests for information. The same procedure could also usefully handle complaints in relation to the authority’s publication scheme. If the complaints cannot be dealt with swiftly and satisfactorily on an informal basis, the public authority should inform persons if approached by them of the details of its internal complaints procedure, and how to contact the Information Commissioner, if the complainant wishes to write to him about the matter.

40. Where the complaint concerns a request for information under the general rights of access, the review should be undertaken by someone senior to the person who took the original decision, where this is reasonably practicable. The public authority should in any event undertake a full re-evaluation of the case, taking into account the matters raised by the investigation of the complaint.

42. Authorities should set their own target times for dealing with complaints; these should be reasonable, and subject to regular review. Each public authority should publish its target times for determining complaints and information as to how successful it is with meeting those targets.