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Requesting Information

If you wish to make a request for information, please remember these guidelines.

Information is defined as something already recorded. We cannot give advice, analysis or opinion (for example, medical advice) under the laws which relate to information access. If you need medical advice, legal expert opinion or any other form of guidance, please don't use this information service - request it by the appropriate method. Also, please don't use medical on-call services to ask for information as it takes up time that is needed for patients.

  • Requests which relate to the Freedom of Information Act or Data Protection Act must be submitted in writing (by letter, fax or email). These Acts cover all information requests which do not relate to the environment. A telephone number is available for enquiries,and those for whom writing is difficult (through disability, or lack of English writing skills) may ask for their request to be transcribed. .
  • Requests must be legible.
  • You must include your name, and an address for correspondence. This can be an email address. Please make sure that the address is correct, since this is where we will send the reply.
  • You must describe the information you are requesting. Please make this as clear as possible and include all relevant details. If we cannot clearly understand what information you want, we will reply to you asking for clarification and in the meantime we will not be able to work on your request. We will help you as much as we can to make your request clear.
  • If the information you are requesting relates to effects on the environment, it will be dealt with under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations ( EIR ). Under the rules of EIR you are entitled to make your request by telephone or in person. If you wish to make your request in person, you must discuss this with the Freedom of Information Officer. It would be helpful if you could let us know of your visit in advance so that we can make sure the right person is available to see you. Requests made by telephone or in person will be transcribed into a written record and you will be asked to confirm that the transcription is correct. The transcribed request will then be treated as a request in writing.

    We will acknowledge your request in writing within 3 working days. This will be a short email, fax or letter to confirm that we have received the request and that it is being processed. We will also tell you when you can expect a full reply.

    A full reply will be sent in writing within 20 working days for requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act. Requests under the Environmental Information Regulations may take up to 40 days for a reply.
  • If the information you requested is already available elsewhere, for example on our website or in a publication, we will tell you where and how to obtain it. If there is a charge for the publication we will also tell you the charge.
  • If we have all the information you requested and no exemptions apply, we will send it to you in the most convenient available format. (If you would like to receive the information in a particular format, please make this clear in your request and we will do all we can to help.)
  • If we have the information you requested but are unable to release all or part of it due to the exemptions specified in the Act or the Regulations, we will tell you what exemptions apply. If the exemptions only apply to parts of the information, we will send you a copy with the exempt parts removed. The copy will show where information has been removed and what exemption applied.
  • If we have the information you requested but it would take a significant amount of work to collate, compile or copy into the form that you want, there may be a fee to help cover the costs of this extra work. If this happens we will write to you to tell you the reasons for the fee, how much the fees will be and to ask whether you want to go ahead with the request. The request will be put on hold until payment is received.
  • If we don't have the information you have asked for, we will tell you this.

 

These details and timescales are in accordance with the legal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and Environmental Information Regulations.

Please note that information on requests will be recorded to help with service monitoring.

For full details of how information requests are processed, please see the HPA Information Request Procedure (PDF, 34 KB)
HPA Information Request Procedure. Interim Version

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Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Affairs
61 Colindale Avenue
London NW9 5DF
Tel: 44 (0)20 8327 6920
Fax: 44 (0)20 8327 6007
Email: foi@hpa.org.uk


Last reviewed: 10 January 2008