The Freedom of Information Act gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities. It sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities.
The Environmental Information Regulations were created to support and work with the Freedom of Information Act and provide public access to environmental information held in public authorities.
Further information on request for information related to IT Infrastructure
"Please see below recently published advice from Information Commissioner’s Office, the regulator for FOIA and EIR in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Using AI to help draft information requests?
AI tools can be helpful, but they can also introduce errors or create overly complex requests that increase the burden on public bodies and cost to the taxpayer.
When using AI to help draft an information request, please make sure the final wording has been checked and reflects your actual information needs.
Before you submit a request or secondary correspondence, please check that:
You are only asking for the information you are genuinely looking for.
AI tools sometimes generate broad or excessive wording that goes beyond the information you actually want or need;
The request is clear, concise and focused.
Short, straightforward requests are easier for us to process and usually lead to quicker, more accurate responses;
There are no obvious factual inaccuracies.
AI can misrepresent legislation or misstate what organisations do. Please review the text of your request carefully and don’t assume AI is right. If it has referred to something you don’t understand, check what it is; and
The tone is appropriate.
AI-generated content can sometimes sound abrupt, or otherwise inappropriate. Please check the tone before sending.
Why does this matter?
We are seeing an increase in requests and secondary correspondence that appear to have been drafted by generative AI. These can require additional clarification because of inaccuracies or unnecessary complexity. This creates delays for both requesters and our teams.
Need guidance?
You can find advice on making effective information requests on the Information Commissioner’s Office website."
Registration Officers and anyone who acts on their behalf in carrying out statutory registration duties are outside the provisions of the FOI Act 2000. Superintendent registrars and registrars are not a public authority as defined in the Act and, therefore, are not subject to its provisions. Data held by them including information held in birth/ death / marriage registers – is thus not subject to disclosure under the FOI Act.
The Information Commissioner’s Office maintains a Data Protection Public Register. You can search this to find out what personal data is being processed by a particular controller.
Every public authority is required to adopt and maintain a publication scheme setting out the classes of information it holds, the manner in which it intends to publish the information, and whether a charge will be made for the information. Please check the publication scheme , or search the website, before you submit a request for information as you may find what you are looking for in the scheme. You may also find what you are looking for in open data.
Requests by email should be sent to: hdl@halton.gov.uk
Requests by post should be sent to Information Governance Service, Compliance and Data Management Division, Halton Borough Council, PO Box 317, Runcorn WA7 9BZ.
The Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations give you wide-ranging rights to obtain information from us. They do not automatically give you the right to make any further use of that information. You can read the information we provide, quote it or make reference to it. Most of the information we can give you is covered by our copyright, and some of it may be covered by other people's copyright. If you copy, publish or re-use it without permission you are breaching copyright.
If you wish to copy, publish or re-use it for commercial purposes, you must obtain our permission.