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Requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act

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The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) allows you to request access to other information that the council holds.

The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) provide the same right for 'environmental information'.

Check whether the information you are looking for is already available before requesting:

  • Check our frequently requested information below. Some types of information are not held by us.
  • Search for school details. Schools are public authorities in their own right. FOI information specifically about schools may be held by the individual school rather than the County Council.

Publication Scheme

Our Publication Scheme lists all the types of information that is available to the public. It shows:

  • the information which the council publish or intend to publish
  • the format the information is available in
  • whether there is a charge for that information

The scheme describes:

  • each type or class of information
  • the documents themselves
  • where they can be obtained.

For more information visit our Freedom of Information Publication Scheme and Open Data page.

Hard copies of the Publication Scheme are available by contacting foi@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Submitting a FOI request

You can submit a request for information via the link to the online form below.

The Act requires us to respond within 20 working days from when we receive a valid request. Once submitted, we will let you know as soon as possible if we need any extra details to take your request forward.

Fees and charges for providing data under FOI, EIR or data protection

If all the requested information can be provided electronically and you are happy to receive it in this format, there will be no charge for providing the information.

If this is your first request and you request will require more than 20 pages of photocopying there is a charge of 10p per photocopy plus postage.

We will issue you with a “fees notice” to inform you of the amount that needs to be paid before we can process your request.

If all the requested information can be provided electronically and you are happy to receive it in this format, there will be no charge for providing the information.

If you have had a previous request in the last 6 months and your request will require more than 10 pages of photocopying there is a charge you 10p per photocopy plus postage. We will issue you with a “fees notice” to inform you of the amount that needs to be paid before we can process your request.

If you make several requests around a single or associated issue, and the cumulative cost of supplying this information exceeds 18 hours, we will advise you that we will not respond to further requests of this kind for a period of 60 days from the date of our last response.

If we estimate that it will take more than 18 hours to locate and prepare the information you request, we will contact you and ask you to refine the scope of your request so that it can be serviced in less than 18 hours.

If you are not prepared to refine the scope of your request then unfortunately we will not be able to provide you with the information.

If you would prefer to come in and view the documents, or we are unable to copy the documents for you, we can arrange for supervised access to the information.

This is charged at £25 per hour or part thereof. We will issue you with a “fees notice” to inform you of the amount that needs to be paid in advance of the access.

The first time you request to see all of your information under the Data Protection Act, we will do this for you free of charge. Any subsequent requests will be charged at £10 per request.

Frequently requested information

We receive many FOI requests for information which is not held by the council.

The list below shows the topics which the county council does not hold information for. Please send requests to the relevant city or district council listed below.

  • Bin collections
  • Council tax
  • Licensing
  • Pest control
  • Leisure centre
  • Public health funerals
  • Cremation and burial
  • Business/commercial rates

City and district councils FOI request details