Freedom of information

You can make a freedom of information (FOI) request to ask for any information we hold unless it is about yourself. You do not need to give a reason. 

You can also ask for information about environmental matters by making an environmental information request (EIR). Where we talk about FOI requests on this page, it applies to environmental information requests as well.  

The Information Commissioner has more information about how to access information from a public authority.   

When not to make a FOI request

To find out how to request information that we hold about you

Make a FOI request

Before making a FOI request, check if the information is already available online. 

You can: 

• find information about the Trust on our website
• search previous responses within our FOI disclosure log
• search information about our board of directors, and papers for board meetings and quality accounts
• Review papers for our council of governor meetings, our monthly suppliers spend over £25,000 month, our annual reports and accounts
• Read our freedom of information policy

We will respond to your request by email, unless you specify otherwise. 

If you do write to us by post, please include an email address, if you have one, so we can email you back.   

How long it takes

We will respond to your FOI request within 20 working days, counting the first working day after receipt of your request as day one.

We may need to ask you for more information to clarify your request. If we do this then the time to respond only will be frozen after we have received clarification from you.  

If we ask you to clarify your request and you don’t respond, the request will lapse after 2 weeks.    

Requests that may take longer

Sometimes we will need to extend the deadline to respond to your request, such as to carry out a public interest test. We would contact you, in any event, to let you know if this is the case. 

Refusing a request

We may not be able to provide the information requested if: 

• we do not hold the information 
• it will take 18 working hours or more to provide the information  
• an exemption or exception applies  

If we refuse your request because of the time it would take, we will give you guidance on how you can reduce the request. 

Exemptions and exceptions

Sometimes we cannot release information to the public because it may: 

• significantly disrupt service delivery to spend over 18 hours to provide the requested data
• breach privacy 
• cause risks to public safety, or the security of the Trust
• encourage crime 

If we decide that an exemption or exception applies, we will tell you why. Where relevant, we will explain the public interest reasons for withholding the information. You can appeal against this decision and we would include details of how to do this in our response. 

The ICO website has more information about refusal of requests. 

If you are not satisfied with our response

You can ask for an internal review if: 

• you are not satisfied with our response to your request 
• you don’t agree that the information should be exempt 
• you think the response was late 

To request an internal review email foi@tavi-port.nhs.uk within two months of our response. An internal review would then be undertaken by a senior manager who was not previously involved in the response given to the original request. 

Requests for internal review requests will be acknowledged via auto-response from the FOI mailbox. We aim to complete internal reviews within 20 working days, which may be extended to 40 working days if a review is complex. 

If you’re not satisfied with the outcome of our internal review, you can complain to the information commissioner.