Accessing Information

We're fully committed to the provisions of the Act, and support its underlying principles of openness and transparency. We'll deal with requests in a timely manner and in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

You can see our Freedom of Information Policy for more information about our approach to compliance with the Act.

Before you make a request, you should do the following:

check our publication scheme. This explains the categories of information that we already make available to the public. You may not need to make a formal request if the information is already accessible to you
find out how to make a request, and how we will respond
read our complaints procedure to find out what to do if you are unhappy with our response

Responding to Requests

When we have received a valid Freedom of Information (FOI) request, we have 20 working days to respond.

You may have to provide more detail if your request doesn't allow us to identify the information you're looking for. Once we're clear what information you want, the 20 working day response time will start.

If the information you request is already published, we'll direct you on how to find it rather than provide the information itself.

Also, if we know that the requested information is published by another public authority, we'll tell you how to contact them.

Our response will:

confirm whether or not we hold the information you requested
provide you with a copy of the information we're able to disclose
tell you if we aren't able to release some of the information you have asked for, and explain why
give you details of how to complain if you are unhappy with our response

Freedom of Information (FOI) exemptions

We may not be able to release information to which an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) legitimately applies.

However, we will explain to you why we can't release the information you've requested and which of the Freedom of Information (FOI) exemptions apply.

Some of the exemptions include:

if it would take an excessive amount of work to supply you with all of the information you have requested
where the information contains personal data about other people, and it would not be appropriate for us to release
information given to us in confidence
if the disclosure of the information would prejudice commercial interests
if your request is repeated or vexatious

You can find out more about the exemptions contained within the FOI Act on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) website. The ICO is the organisation responsible for enforcement of the Act, and for investigating complaints against public authorities in relation to FOI requests.

Charges

On very rare occasions, we may need to charge you.

Costs might cover printing, photocopying or postage. We'll let you know as soon as possible (and within 20 working days), if there are any charges for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

We won't be able to release the information you've requested, until fees have been received.

Requests for Information

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows you to ask us for access to any information we hold in recorded form.

To make a request for information, you need to provide us with the following information:

your name
an address for us to contact you (this can be an email address if you prefer to receive electronic copies of the information)
a description of the information that you would like to access

Send your request to our FOI Officer via our contact details.

Personal information

If you want to request access to your personal records or other information we hold about you, you must make this request under the Data Protection Act instead.

Our Data Protection pages explain how to request access to your personal records

Complaints

If you are unhappy about the way we have handled your request for information or you want us to review our decision not to release information to you, you should submit your request for review to the University’s appointed reviewer:

Information Governance Officer
Executive Office
Newcastle University
King's Gate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU

E-mail: rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk

You must include:

your name and address for correspondence
reasons for your dissatisfaction with our response to your request
information that would help us to identify your request from our records (date the request was sent to us; a copy of the request and our response; any reference number you may have been given)

The request for review should be submitted within 40 working days of the date on which you received our response to your request for information. We may, at our discretion, consider requests for review that are received beyond this timescale but we are not obliged to do so.

How we'll handle your request for review

We'll acknowledge receipt of your request for review within 3 working days.

The University’s appointed reviewer will:

review the relevant documentation
consider whether or not our initial response to your request was correct

If the appointed reviewer was involved in responding to your original request for information, then another senior officer of the University will be appointed to take responsibility for carrying out the review.

The reviewer may contact you to seek clarification on your original request or your grounds for review. The reviewer will also invite the FOI Officer to comment on the original decision that was reached.

We will normally reply to you in writing, within 20 working days of receiving your request, to inform you of the outcome of the review. The review may conclude that the original response was correct, or the reviewer may decide to alter the original decision and order the disclosure of some, or all, of the information you have requested. Our review response will explain the reasons for the decision.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our internal review, you can then contact the Information Commissioner's Office. Details of how to do so, and how they will handle your complaint, can be found on the ICO website.