FOI and EIR complaints

If you get an outcome to an internal review and you are still unhappy with the result - you can complain to the ICO.

Where possible we will try and resolve your complaint informally. When we do take formal enforcement action, this will likely be in the form of a decision notice. 

A decision notice is a document that explains whether the Information Commissioner thinks a public authority has complied with the law when dealing with a specific request. The notice might instruct the public authority to take steps to comply with the law.

We cannot issue fines to public authorities in relation to information access requests and we cannot award you with compensation.

When you complain, you need to provide us with:

• • a copy or evidence of your request for information;
  • the public authorities response to your request;
  • your request for an internal review; and
  • the outcome of the internal review.

We record the outcome of your complaint to inform our work.  

If you want to raise a complaint with us about a public authority’s handling of your request for information, then we ask that you do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with the public authority. Waiting longer than this can affect the decisions we reach. In most cases an undue delay will mean that we will not consider the matter at all. If the public authority has not provided you with an initial response to your request, then you are asked to provide us with evidence that you have attempted to resolve this issue directly with the public authority in the first instance.

Please note: We cannot award compensation.