Freedom of Information requests

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), you have the right to request recorded information held by Oxfordshire County Council. This includes documents, emails, reports, maps, photographs, audio/video recordings, and more. 

Most requests we receive fall under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If your request relates to the environment e.g. air or water qualify, land use or planning, it may be handled under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). 

Our Freedom of Information Act Policy (pdf format, 184 KB) sets out how we will respond to information requests under the FOI Act.

Your personal information

Requests for personal information, such as social care records related to yourself, your child, or a family member, are subject to Data Protection legislation, and will not be processed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Please visit our Subject Access Request page for further guidance.  

Before you start 

We regularly publish information on our Publication Scheme which may answer your request which is updated regularly. 

Information we do not hold

Oxfordshire currently operates under a two-tier local government structure. The City and District Councils of Oxfordshire deal with the following services: 

• Residential planning applications and building control
• Housing and homelessness
• Environmental health issues e.g. pest control, noise pollution, dog fouling, street cleaning
• Leisure centres, swimming pools, sports facilities, play parks and markets
• Household waste kerbside collections
• Council tax and business rates

To submit your request for information to the City and District Councils, use the links below:

• Oxford City Council Freedom of Information requests | Oxford City Council
• South Oxfordshire District Council Requesting information - South Oxfordshire District Council
• Vale of White Horse District Council Freedom of information and Environmental Information Regulations - Vale of White Horse District Council
• Cherwell District Council Your right to access information | Your right to access information | Cherwell District Council
• West Oxfordshire District Council Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations - West Oxfordshire District Council

Making a request

If you cannot find the information that you are looking for online, you can submit a request by:

• Email: foi@oxfordshire.gov.uk
• Post: FOI Team, Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND

Please include:

• Your name – this cannot be a pseudonym or anonymous
• A contact address (email or postal)
• A clear description of the information you are seeking

You do not need to specify whether your request falls under FOIA or EIR – we’ll determine that for you. 

Exemptions and exceptions

Some information may be withheld under FOIA exemptions and EIR exceptions.

We will let you know if we’re withholding information for this reason.  Some examples of when we may withhold information are: 

• The information is commercially sensitive and making it public could harm the Council’s or its suppliers’ commercial interests
• The information is already available via another route

Charges for information

Most requests are free; however we may charge for 

• Photocopying, printing or postage of large volumes of material
• Requests exceeding the cost threshold under FOIA, currently £450

If a fee applies, we will issue a fees notice. The requester must pay the fee before we release the information. The statutory time limit for responding to the request pauses until payment is received. 

Response times

We’ll aim to respond within 20 working days unless your requests is complex, voluminous or we need to consider the public interest. 

If your request is complex, voluminous or we’re considering the public interest, we are able to take up to 40 working days to respond. If we need to use the full 40 working days, we will let you know. 

Internal reviews

If you’re dissatisfied with our response, you can request a review if you believe exemptions/exceptions were wrongly applied or you didn’t receive all the requested information.

Your request an internal review must be made within 40 working days from the date we issued our initial response. Reviews are undertaken by a member of staff not involved in the initial response and will investigate whether the initial response provided to you was correct. You will receive a response within 20-40 working days. 

Information Commissioner’s Office

If you have had an internal review and you’re still dissatisfied, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO are the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest. 

You can complain to the ICO by:

• Visting their website
• Emailing casework@ico.org.uk
• By phone 0303 123 1113
• In writing to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF 

Compliance data

We publish compliance statistics on a quarterly basis, with reports available after each quarter. You can view the compliance data by accessing the following document: FOI EIR Compliance