Freedom of Information

Introduction

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out general exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities.

Public authorities are defined in the Act and include Further Education institutions such as Chichester College Group.

The Act is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public sector bodies by providing people with rights of access to the information held by them. It is expected that these rights will facilitate better public understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money.

Requesting Information

If you wish to request details of information held about you by the Group please fill out the Information Requests online form.

Following your request, the College will contact you to acknowledge your request and confirm the information you are requesting.

Refusing a request

A request for information may be refused:

• If an exemption applies under legislation that prevents us from providing the information. A list of exemptions is available in the Freedom of Information Act, the exemptions can be found from sections 21 to 44
• If the cost of staff time and providing the information would exceed £450. The maximum staff time for answering requests is therefore 18 hours.

If your request is refused you will be told why including which exception/s apply to the request and your right to appeal against the decision.

Timescales

Information that is readily available will be provided to you as quickly as possible.

A response will be sent to every request within 20 working days. This timescale may be extended under certain circumstances. If this happens you will be notified of this and the estimated date of response.

If we are unsure what information you are requesting we will contact you to clarify your request. The 20 working days will then start from the date when the request is clarified.

Costs

We provide most documents free of charge. If a charge will be applied for the information you have requested you will be notified.