Freedom of Information Act - General guidance for staff

All written requests for recorded information received by the House are FOI (or EIR) requests, not just the ones marked as such. Many teams across the House, such as committee offices, information teams, enquiry teams, etc., may receive these requests.

The majority of these requests involve information which is routinely provided and should be treated as business as usual (BAU). However, if you receive a request for information which is not BAU, you must inform the Information Compliance Service as soon as possible.

FOI or Business as Usual?

BAU requests:

• Can be in any format (telephone, email, letter)
• Request routine or easily accessible information
• Are usually answered as part of the team’s day-to-day business

FOI requests:

• Must be made in writing (including email)
• Do not have to state they are FOI/EIR requests
• May request information held by several teams across the House
• May request information we might not want to disclose (e.g., personal data, security information, commercially sensitive data, etc.)
• Must be answered within 20 working days.

Please note that staff may also opt to treat a BAU request as a FOI request if:

• If it’s marked as a FOI request and/or the requester clearly wants an official response
• We intend to refuse some or all of the request
• It will take more than 20 working days to respond
• The response requires the collation of information from several different teams across the organisation
• The handling of the request by the Information Compliance team might serve to calm or reassure the requester

What to do

BAU requests:

• Try to answer as soon as possible, but no longer than 20 working days after the request was received.
• Ensure the requester knows how they can ask any follow-up questions or complain if required.

FOI requests

• Send these to the Information Compliance Service as soon as possible
• Send any information relevant to the request to the Information Compliance Service
• The Information Compliance Service will log and acknowledge the request, gather the data, draft a response, then coordinate the relevant approvals before sending the formal response to the requester.

Our obligations

The FOIA provides some very specific obligations for the public authorities it covers, which include the House of Commons. The House of Lords is also covered under the Act, as a separate public authority.

We must:

• confirm or deny we hold the requested information
• and, if we do hold it, provide access
• or, if we refuse it, provide details of the exemptions that apply
• do this within 20 working days or receiving the request

Please note that all recorded information held by the House of Commons is ‘FOI-able’. This includes emails, hand-written notes, transcripts, desk notes, memos, audio and video recordings, letters, drafts, etc. It does not matter where this information is held as long as it is business information held on behalf of the House. It may include material stored in a personal inbox, or on a memory stick, or even off-site, so we recommend that teams have good records management practices in place.

However, under certain circumstances we are permitted to refuse a request or exempt some or all information from disclosure. The Information Compliance Service can provide more details if you think this applies.

Deadlines

The deadline to answer each request is quite tight. The Information Compliance Service requires teams to supply information held within seven working days to allow time for queries, drafting, notifications and approvals.

For this reason, we recommend that:

• information is not stored in personal areas such as in-boxes that cannot be accessed if the staff member is absent;
• official mail should be sent to generic/team email accounts which are checked regularly;
• out of office messages give an alternative email address;
• any FOI request received by teams are sent immediately to the Information Compliance Service.

Further information

More detailed guidance, including more information about refusals and exemptions, is available in the Detailed guidance for staff.

Some teams, including Select Committees, deal with material to which exemptions such as section 34 (parliamentary privilege) applies. Specialist guidance for Select Committee Clerks is available in the Practice note for Committee Clerks.

Contacts

The Information Compliance Service:

For all queries or concerns relating to the House of Commons and the Digital Service

• By telephone: 020 7219 2559
• By email: foicommons@parliament.uk

The Information Commissioner’s Office:

For general queries relating to information rights legislation

• By telephone: 0303 123 1113
• ICO website

House of Commons Information Compliance

Last reviewed October 2023