How to make a request

Before you make a request, please:

• Check that information is not already published
• Check if the information is not held by Parliament and is instead held by another organisation
• Check whether your request is for recorded information. If you are instead seeking an explanation for something or would like to express your views about the work of either House of Parliament you may wish to contact the House of Commons Enquiry Service or House of Lords Communications.
• Check if your request is for your own personal data. If it is, please visit the Data Protection and your privacy pages.

Where to submit your request

You can make a request by email by contacting the Information Compliance team of either House of Parliament:

• House of Commons Information Compliance team: foicommons@parliament.uk
• House of Lords Information Compliance team: foilords@parliament.uk

You can alternatively post your request to us using the postal address of either House.

For information about how we will process your personal data, please see our privacy notices.

Points to note when making a request

Formal requests for information must:

• Be in writing, such as by email
• Include your name
• Include an address for correspondence, either email or postal

Please include a clear description of the information you wish to access.

You may also specify the format in which you wish to receive the information. However, it is not always possible to comply with this.

Please also note that:

• We are only required to provide information held at the time of your request
• We are not required to create information to answer a request
• We are not required to provide legal advice, or to analyse any laws to decide if they are relevant to your request
• The copyright on any information supplied remains with the copyright holder and does not transfer to the requester. You will need to check whether copyright restrictions apply before copying or publishing information you receive.
• In some cases, a charge may apply for the provision of the information, e.g. if photocopies are required. We will advise you of this in our response.
• Requests around the period of Dissolution – the period between a General Election being called and the election itself – are likely to take longer to respond to. More information is available on our ‘Making a request during Dissolution’ page.

Further guidance about how to make a Freedom of Information request can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

Further information

• Making a complaint after you receive a response
• Staff guidance on handling requests for information
• House of Commons request logs
• House of Lords request logs