Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) applies to the City of London Corporation as a local authority, Police Authority and Port Health Authority. The Act does not apply to the City Corporation's privately funded activities, such as those paid by the City Bridge Foundation (Bridge House Estates)/ City Cash.
Please note
The City Corporation provides local authority services for the financial district known as the Square Mile. The rest of London is known as Greater London and is administered by the Greater London Authority, Westminster City Council, and the London Boroughs. We do have some functions in relation to areas other than the Square Mile, for example, we manage some of Greater London's open spaces.
Your rights when making a request
Under the Freedom of Information Act you have a right to ask to see any information which you think we may hold as a local authority, Police Authority or Port Health Authority.
You are not required, when making an enquiry, to state your reason for asking for the information. However, the Act requires that when making a request you
- make it in writing (this can be by email)
- state your name
- provide an address for correspondence (this can be an email address)
- describe the information you wish to receive. If your request is unclear, or too general, we are allowed to put the response time on hold while we obtain clarification from you.
Fees
If we estimate that responding to your request will take longer than the time we are legally required to spend in fulfilment of a request, we can refuse to comply with it. If we decide nevertheless to comply with the request, we would be allowed to make a charge. Anything we charge would be in accordance with our Fees Guidance, which is based on the Government’s Fees Regulations. However, for resource reasons, it is normally our practice to refuse to comply with requests which we estimate would exceed the time we are legally required to spend in fulfillment of a request.
Some fees can be charged even when we estimate that responding would not take longer than the time we are required to spend in fulfilment of a request. These charges are also described in the Fees Guidance.
Response time
We are required to respond within 20 working days from the first working day after receiving your request. Where we do make a charge, we are allowed to wait until we have received payment.
Exemptions
Where an exemption applies, we may be unable to provide you with the information requested. When this is the case, we will comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act in how it applies these exemptions.
Further information
For details about all aspects of the Freedom of Information Act (including the exemptions), see the extensive published guidance on the Information Commissioner's website. The Information Commissioner is appointed by the Crown and is the regulator responsible for ensuring that public authorities comply with the Act.
Requests and compliance
Other information relating to FOIs is available on request, please note that the data is held from 2005.
Contact us
Information Officer
Comptroller and City Solicitor’s Department
City of London
Guildhall, PO Box 270
London EC2P 2EJ
020 7332 1243
Email Information Officer
Making a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint about the way we have managed your request under the Freedom of Information Act, including any refusal by us to disclose information which you have requested, you can use our Freedom of Information Act Complaints Procedure, which is available on our feedback page.