The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you the right to request information from any public authority. It promotes openness and accountability among public sector organisations, so that everyone can understand how authorities make decisions, carry out their duties and spend public money.
The Act gives you a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by Leeds City Council. There are some exemptions to this general right of access and these are known as ‘absolute exemptions’ and ‘qualified exemptions’. If a qualified exemption applies, then it is subject to the public interest test. This means that the Council must decide whether in each particular case it serves the interests of the public better to withhold or to disclose the information requested.
The Freedom of Information Act also says that we must maintain a publication scheme which sets what information the Council routinely makes available, how the information can be accessed, and whether we will make a charge to provide it. The idea of a publication scheme is to try and make sure as much information as possible is freely available and easy to access, so that you do not need to make a specific request for it.
As of January 2009, there is one model scheme approved by the Information Commissioner which must be adopted by all public authorities. You can view the Council's publication scheme and other guidance notes from the downloadable documents section of this page.
If you wish to make a request for information under the Act, then this must be in writing, must contain a name and address for correspondence, and must describe the information you are seeking.
Requests can either be e-mailed to cs.freedom.of.information@leeds.gov.uk or can be sent by post to
A76/Freedom of Information Requests
Property, Finance and Technology
Legal, Licensing and Registration
Civic Hall
Leeds LS1 1UR
To find out more about the Freedom of Information Act and publication schemes, visit the Information Commissioner's Office online through the link to the right of this page.