You can request information from the Council and many of these requests will be dealt with in the normal course of business by the relevant department. In addition to this, you have rights to request information set out in the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection Act.
We are required to reply to you within strict deadlines, giving you the information you have asked for, or explaining why we cannot give you that information.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act gives a statutory right to all information held by public authorities, subject to some exemptions.
All requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act need to be submitted in writing. This can be by email, letter or by completing our online request form.
You must supply a name and address that we can reply to. You will need to provide us with enough detail about your request for us to identify the information. If you request the information in electronic format, you must supply an email address.
We are required to respond within 20 working days. You will receive an acknowledgement and this will confirm the deadline for our response.
Making a request is free, however, where the work involved in responding to a request would cost us in excess of £450 (equivalent to 18 hours work) we are not obliged to supply the information. Where we do provide the information in these circumstances, you will be required to pay the fee.
There are a number of exemptions within the Act and if the information you request falls into one of these areas, we may refuse to supply the information. Where this applies, we will advise you accordingly.
The Publication Scheme and Guide to Information set out information we routinely make available. You may wish to look at these documents before submitting your request
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
The updated Environmental Information Regulations came into force on 1 January 2005. It gives members of the public the right to access environmental information held by public authorities, subject to some exceptions.
Requests for environmental information can be made in writing, by telephone or in person. Public authorities must respond in writing within 20 working days. An authority may in some circumstances, charge a reasonable fee for providing the information.
The definition of environmental information includes information on:
the state of the elements of the environment, such as air, water, soil, land, landscape, natural sites and biological diversity;
emissions, discharges, noise, energy, radiation, waste and other releases into the environment;
measures and activities such as policies, plans and agreements affecting or likely to affect the state of the elements of the environment;
reports and cost-benefit and economic analyses
the state of human health and safety, including contamination of the food chain; and
cultural sites and built structures (as they may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment).
The exceptions provide the public authorities with some grounds for refusing to disclose environmental information, subject to a “public interest” test. This means they must take into consideration the public interest factors in disclosing the information and those for withholding it and make a decision based upon the balance.
Data Protection Act 1998
The Council is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 which allows us to hold and process personal data.
Under the Data Protection Act (Section 7) you can make a subject access request for a copy of all the information we hold about you. There is a fee of £10 payable and we are required to respond to you within 40 calendar days.
All subject access requests must be made in writing, either by email or letter, to Customer Services at
St Albans District Council
Civic Centre
St Peters Street
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 3JE
Email foi@stalbans.gov.uk
Making a request for information
If you are unable to find the information you are looking for within the Council's Publication Scheme, please either complete the Freedom of Information eform, the request form below, write or email providing as much detail as possible, to enable us to identify and locate the information requested. Send this to:
Customer Services
St Albans District Council
Civic Centre
St Peters Street
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 3JE
Email
foi@stalbans.gov.uk
To view the Council's replies to requests for information.
To view replies to requests for information received by the St. Albans City and District Council view the disclosure log of responses made between 24 August 2009 and 24 August 2010. This practice has now been discontinued, however, any queries should be referred to foi@stalbans.gov.uk.
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Further information can be obtained from the ICO website
Date of last review: 15 March 2012