Freedom of Information &
Data Protection Regulations

A person who asks a public authority in writing for information on a given topic, is entitled to be told whether the authority has the information, and if it has, to be told what it is. The authority must reply promptly, and in any case not later than the 20th working day after receiving the request. There are, however, some commonsense exceptions, including 23 kinds of sensitive types of information such as personal material or matters which, if published, might prejudice the conduct of the authority’s functions.

The minutes of Pluckley Parish Council may be inspected by any elector for the area, who may make a copy or extracts from them. Such electors may also, free of charge, inspect and copy orders for payment and the financial statement or abstract of accounts. Such copies must be delivered to such electors upon payment of a reasonable sum (currently set at 10p per A4 sheet plus postage). A document required by law to be deposited with the chairman or the proper officer of the council [the Parish Clerk] may be inspected at all reasonable hours by anyone interested in it, and who may make copies or extracts from it. He or she must, however, pay 10p for each inspection, plus 10p for each hour of an inspection after the first.

Costs
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’, which is currently set at £450. Costs are calculated on a standard rate of £25 per hour, based on estimating how long it takes to:

• Determine if the information is held;

• Locate the information or a document that may contain the information

• Retrieve the information, or a document that may contain the information;

• Edit or extract the releasable information contained within a document.

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