Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Print version

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you the right to ask for - and be given - information the Council has. 

The Act does not give you a right to get personal information about you. That is covered by the Data Protection Act and you need to make a subject access request [/info/826/data_protection_act/828/requesting_personal_information] for that information.

We publish a selection of responses issued [/foieirrequests] and you might find it useful to look through these first to see if there is anything of interest.

You can also find out about information we publish in our Publication Scheme [/info/200031/data_protection_and_freedom_of_information/380/publication_scheme].

Things to think about when making a request

• Look at your request again. Have you have asked the right questions?
• Do your research first. Is the information already available on our website, perhaps in the Publication Scheme [/info/200031/data_protection_and_freedom_of_information/380/publication_scheme]? If not, why not look at the Council's Open Data [/info/200116/websites/650/open_data/2] pages for more information.
• Has the question been asked before? Look at the disclosure log [/foieirrequests] on our website.
• Take care when making lots of requests. Remember the more people you ask, the more public money will be spent on answering it. Make sure you are asking the right people.
• Try to be clear. If we are not sure what you are asking for it may delay our reply as we will have to ask for more information.
• Keep your request short and to the point. You can always make other requests later if you want more information.
• Be polite. Don't assume that the person reading your request knows all about you or is trying to avoid answering your question(s).
• Be patient. In most cases you will get a reply before the deadline of 20 working days (please note this does not include weekends or bank holidays). Remember we have a month to respond, starting the working day after we get your request.
• Use the information you receive responsibly. Ask us for permission if you want to reproduce a document or at least mention where it came from.

Making a request

The easiest way to submit a Freedom of Information request is online.

Submit a Freedom of Information request

If you do not have a MyAccount you can still submit the request by choosing the 'Continue as Guest' option.

You will receive an automated acknowledgement, including the reference number from our FOI system once you submit your request.

When making your request, you must include:

• Your name
• An address where you can be contacted (either postal or e-mail)
• A detailed description of the information you want

We will tell you if you have to pay anything. Most requests are free and we will send our answer by e-mail if possible, but you might be asked to pay a small amount for photocopies or postage in some cases.

We can refuse your request if we think it will cost us more than £450 to deal with. We might then ask you for more details so we can provide the right information you're looking for.

You should be sent a full reply within 20 working days (the deadline starts on the first working day after we receive your form). If we need more time, we will tell you how long it will take.

Some information might be sensitive. If we are not able to give you all the information, we’ll tell you why. You can also ask for environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations – things like air or water quality, noise and waste as well as any policies, decisions or activities that could affect them.

Asking for clarification

If your request is unclear and we need further details to establish if we hold the information, we may ask you for clarification.

The 20 working day timescale will not start until we have sufficient information to handle your request. If we do not receive clarification within two months, your request will be closed.

You can ask for the information in a number of different ways:

• Paper or electronic copies of any original documents
• As a searchable spreadsheet
• Audio format
• Large print

What you can do with the information

If you plan to publish the information we send you, make sure you check who owns the copyright. Our answer will tell you what you need to do.

Exemptions

Some information held by the Council may not be disclosable under the Freedom of Information Act and will be exempt from disclosure. If we apply any exemptions, we must explain why in our response.

For further information regarding Freedom of Information Act Exemptions please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website [https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/guide-to-managing-an-foi-request/exemptions/].

Freedom of Information Requests relating to:

•  ICT, Cyber/ICT security, cyber attacks, ransomware, malware and related topics [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/43071/ccc-s31-cyber-foi-exemption].

What to do when you get a reply

• When you get your reply, read it carefully. A lot of effort goes into answering FOI requests, even when your request is refused.
• In some cases we just do not have the information you want. You may think we should, but if we don’t, we will tell you why. Please try to read the explanation with an open mind.
• If your request has been refused using one of the exemptions (FOI) or exceptions (EIR), we will tell you which ones apply and why.
• Where a public interest test has been applied, we will have looked at the reasons for and against giving the information and will explain these in our reply.

What to do if you are not happy with our response

• If you feel our reasons for not giving you the information don't make sense, and you still want the information, you should use our Internal Review process. You will be given details of this with the reply.
• It will help your case if you put in writing the reasons why you think the exemptions/exceptions don't apply. Where a public interest test has been used, you can give your own reasons for why you should have the information if you don't think these have been looked at.
• What happens next? We will try to carry out a review and reply within another 20 working days.

If you are still not happy, you can contact The Information Commissioner [http://www.ico.org.uk/] and ask them to look at our reply.

Things the Council does

To give you an idea of what information we might have, we provide services covering:

• Benefits
• Education
• Environmental Health
• Planning
• Road maintenance
• Social Services for adults and children
• Trading Standards
• Waste disposal and bin collections

A few popular Council topics that people are interested in include:

• Applying for an allotment [/allotments]
• Claiming benefits [/benefits]
• Contracts held with the Council [/downloads/download/1362/contracts_register]
• Registering to vote [/registertovote]
• Registers of births, marriages and deaths [/birthsdeathsandceremonies]
• Salaries of senior managers [/council-structure/salaries-senior-managers]
• Structure charts [/downloads/download/1994/structure_charts]

Things the Council does not do

We have listed a few things below that we do not provide services for. If you want information about them, you will need to contact the organisations below.

Crime and law enforcement

If you want information about policing, crime issues, statistics or individual incidents, you need to contact West Midlands Police [http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/].

Housing

All former Council housing was transferred in 2000 and is now owned and managed by Citizen Housing [https://www.citizenhousing.org.uk/]

Buses and public transport

Public transport in Coventry is run by Transport for West Midlands [https://www.tfwm.org.uk/] The bus service in Coventry is run by National Express, Coventry [http://nxbus.co.uk/coventry/].

Public sports centres in Coventry

These are run by CV Life [https://cvlife.co.uk/]. CV Life represents the partnership working between two organisations; Coventry Sports Foundation (CSF) and Culture Coventry Trust (CCT). Although CSF and CCT are operating as CV Life, they continue to trade as two separate organisations.

Museums and galleries in Coventry

The Herbert Art Gallery [https://www.theherbert.org] and Museum, the Priory Visitor Centre and the Lunt Roman Fort are managed by Culture Coventry.

Schools

Individual schools are classed as separate organisations under the Freedom of Information Act.
This means that if you want detailed information about a school and what it does, you will need to ask the school. 
Here is a list of Coventry schools and their contact details [/directory/10/schools_and_their_contact_details].