Freedom of Information (FOI) Act

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) has created significant new rights of access to recorded information held by public authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Freedom of Information Act takes a major step forward in terms of openness and accountability and is part of a wider group of policies. It is expected that these rights will facilitate better public understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money.

The Freedom of Information Act has been implemented in two parts.

February 2003 – Ashfield Homes Limited (AHL) was required to have a Publication Scheme. The Publication Scheme details all of the information that is regularly published by AHL. The Publication Scheme shows where the information is located, in what format the information is published and whether there is a charge for providing the information.

January 2005 - A member of the public has the right to request information held by the ALMO. Under this Act, AHL must respect:

• The right of an individual to be told, in writing, whether specified information is held by the public authority.
• The right to receive that information if no exemptions apply and provided that the correct fee (if any) is paid.

Publication Scheme

The Publication Scheme lists all published information that is produced by Ashfield Homes Limited. The Publication Scheme categorises all publications and shows where the information is located and whether there is a charge for providing the information.

Making requests for information

From January 2005 any member of the public can request information which is held by the ALMO. In order to receive an efficient response to your request, the request must be in writing, either by post, fax or email. Letters should be addressed as below and emails sent to ahlmail@ashfieldhomes.co.uk

FOI Requests
Ashfield Homes Limited
Broadway
Brook Street
Sutton-in-Ashfield
Nottinghamshire
NG17 1AL
Sending an email/letter to another AHL email address/recipient may delay our response to you.

FOI fees

The freedom of information fee structure outlines how much we will charge for supplying you with the information you have requested.

Exemptions

Under the FOI Act, there are two main categories of exemption, qualified and absolute.  Find out more about exemptions

Frequently Asked Questions

In our frequently asked questions section we aim to answer the difficult and practical questions which the Act throws up such as:

What is the difference between Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act?

The Data Protection Act gives us as an ALMO guidelines on how we should process, keep and finally destroy any personal information which is held at the ALMO. The The Freedom of Information Act applies to all information except personal information and other exemptions.

What is the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act?

The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities (ie local authorities, schools, police, NHS bodies). Individuals already have the right to access personal information about themselves under the Data Protection 1998. As far as public authorities are concerned, the Freedom of Information Act will extend this right to allow the public access to all types of information held by the authority.

What is the Public Interest Test?

The public interest test in the FOI Act is specifically defined: the authority must release the information unless ’in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information’. In other words whether it would be better for information to be put into the public domain, or kept confidential.

This requires the company to make a judgement about the public interest. Where the balance between disclosure and withholding the information is seen as equal, the information must be released.

Complaints

If you wish to complain about the information you have received in response to your request, please contact the Company Solicitor, tel: 01623 608924; email m.sachdeva@ashfieldhomes.co.uk  or write to the address given above.