09 February 2012Overview of the Freedom of Information Act
How to search for information on this website
Complaints and review procedure
Records retention policy
Contact the Freedom of Information Officer
Please Note: The Council has received a guidance document from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on property searches and is currently in the process of interpreting its contents. The Council is not obliged to follow the guidance of the ICO on this issue as it is not statutory. At this time the Council has chosen not to follow the guidance pending legal opinion which the Local Government Association is seeking on behalf of the sector.
Overview of the Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act allows the public access to most Council information. The Council has up to 20 working days from receipt of the request to provide the necessary information.
Most information about the Council and its work is freely available and most can be found on this website. Click on the following link for details of how to search this site for information.
If the information you are searching for is not available on this site, you can click on the following link to Freedom of Information request form (
PDF 90K file details) as a PDF and complete it and send it back to the Council.
As part of the Freedom of Information Act, all councils have made available a Publication Scheme, which sets out the classes of information they hold, the way they intend to publish it and whether a charge will be made for providing it.
From the 1 January 2009, the Council will adopt the Information Commissioner's Office's Model Publication Scheme ( PDF File 55KB file details). This scheme represents a commitment to publishing information within certain broad classes. It does not specify particular pieces of information or charges. The Council also has a Guide to information ( PDF File 127KB file details), which is intended as a descriptive guide to the information the Council routinely publishes. The aim of both documents is to ensure that a significant amount of information is made available to the public without the need for a specific request
Whilst the Council holds and makes available literature produced by other organisations such as charities and Central Government, it does not publish it and therefore it is outside of its control.
The Freedom of Information Act does not cover personal information held by the Council. Access to such information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. See the Data Protection pages on this website.
Where environmental information is requested, slightly different arrangements apply under the Environmental Information Regulations. For example requests do not have to be made in writing. Please also see the Environmental Information Regulations Charging Policy (
Wordpad Document 34KB file details).
Advice about the Acts and Regulations can be found on the Information Commissioner's website www.ico.gov.uk, which publishes guidance about the Freedom of Information Act and guidance about the Environmental Information Regulations.
There is also more information on the Department for Constitutional Affairs webpages covering freedom of information.
How to search for information on this website
Sevenoaks District Council aims to make most of its information freely available to the public. Most, but not all, information can be found on this website.
To search information you can:
Use the A to Z search. This method lists information on the site alphabetically according to the initial letter of the keyword selected.
Use the search facility. This allows searching by keywords such as "refuse", or "planning"
If you still cannot find the information you require, you can download the Council's Freedom of Information request form ( PDF 90K file details), complete it and send it back to the Council.
Complaints and review procedure
Click on the following link to view the complaints and review procedure ( PDF File 19KB file details) in connection with the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act and the Environmental Information Regulations.
Records retention policy
View Sevenoaks District Council's Records retention policy ( PDF 55K file details) or the Record retention guidelines appendix ( PDF File 1370KB file details).
Contact the Freedom of Information Officer
To contact the Council's Freedom of Information officer, call 01732 227350 or e-mail foi@sevenoaks.gov.uk.
