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The Freedom of Information Act became law on 30th November 2000, and came into effect on the 1st of January 2005 (the Act can be found at HMSO website and a there is also a link to a copy of their explanatory notes). Under the Act you have a right of access to all types of recorded information held by bodies across the public sector - both personal and non-personal. There are, of course, areas where exemptions apply and these can be found at www.lcd.gov.uk.
The Act was passed with the aim of fostering a culture of openness, transparency and accountability in Government. SEEDA is committed to comply with the obligations imposed by the Freedom of Information Act.
Main Features of the Freedom of Information Act
- A general right of access to information held by public
authorities in the course of carrying out their public functions, subject to certain conditions and exemptions.
- In most cases where information is exempt from disclosure there
is a duty on public authorities to disclose where, in the view of the public authority, the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question.
- A new office of Information Commissioner (see below for contact
details), and a new Information Tribunal, with wide powers to enforce the rights created.
- A duty imposed on public authorities to adopt a scheme for the
publication of information. The schemes, which must be approved by the Commissioner, will specify the classes of information the authority intends to publish, the manner of publication and whether the information is available to the public free of charge or on payment of a fee.
Publication Scheme
To enable you to search for information you want quickly and easily, SEEDA has developed a 'publication scheme' of all the information published by us. This is divided into 9 sections for easy access and links to those sections are noted below:
Responsibilities
The person with overall responsibility for the publication scheme and for Freedom of Information access requests within the Agency is Paul Lovejoy - Executive Director Strategy & Communications - the individual who has responsibility for daily maintenance of SEEDA Freedom of Information Act procedures is the named contact shown below:
Named Contact
Paul Lovejoy
Executive Director Strategy & Communications SEEDA HQ London Road Guildford Surrey
GU1 1YA
tel: 01483 470133
email:
FOI@seeda.co.uk
Requesting Information
If the information you require is included in the publication scheme then it is available on the website. Links to different sections of the publication scheme can be found above, or you can carry out a search. Where the information you require is available by post, a request can be made in writing to the above named contact.
You can also request information online using the Freedom of Information request form
It is SEEDA's intention that items will be available free of charge, but in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act we do reserve the right to make charges for the information where appropriate, and when the amount of work and cost incurred warrants it.
Please make any accessibility needs clear when contacting us.
Copyright
If you want to re-use or reproduce the publications or information provided by SEEDA from a request under the Freedom of Information Act (for example, commercially or for circulation to third parties) you will, in most cases, need to apply to the Agency for a copyright licence.
Complaints Procedure
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may ask for your request to be reviewed internally by SEEDA. A request for a review should be addressed to Paul Lovejoy, tel: +44 (0)1483 484200, email:
FOI@seeda.co.uk
. A member of senior management will conduct the review and you will be notified of the outcome within 20 working days. If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on the handling of your request. The Information Commissioner is an independent statutory body which oversees the operation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Requests for a review by the Information Commissioner should be made in writing directly to:
FOI Compliance Team (Complaints)
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
tel: 01625 545700
fax: 01625 524510
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