Foi how long

The processing period may also be affected by time spent agreeing on a charge or carrying out a request consultation process.

See Part 3 of the Guidelines. Public holidays and shut down periods do not extend the processing period. To ensure compliance with the statutory timeframes and make the most appropriate use of the extension of time provisions in the Act, agencies should plan well in advance.

The guidance Public Holidays and Agency Shut-down Periods may help agencies calculate when a processing period commences and ends during holiday and shut-down periods. No, the agency or minister does not need to notify the OAIC of this type of extension, but does need to inform the applicant. Yes, otherwise the extension is not valid. The agency or minister must provide reasons to the OAIC. The decision period may be extended by a further 30 days or a longer or shorter period of time, as appropriate.

An agency or minister has the option to apply to the OAIC for further time after a decision has become deemed either under s 15AC or under s 54D after an application for internal review. The principal officer of the agency or minister is taken to have made a decision to refuse access to the document on the last day of the decision period. Some requests can take a long time to answer, there may have to be many exchanges between FOI officers and staff in departments where the information is stored, and they may have to consider a range of exemptions.

In some cases a public interest test will have to be considered. Many exemptions are subject to the public interest test and it gives the authority more time to respond, they should notify you if this is the case. Before following any of the following steps it is important to double check date the request was sent and when a response should be received.

Make sure you use any reference numbers that are related to your request this will make locating the progress of it easier. Be patient and wait for a response. This includes things like your health records or credit reference files. To help us improve GOV. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies.

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