Public information rights
FOI & Environmental Information
Ask for recorded information held by public authorities. The first question is which legal regime applies: FOIA/EIR 2004 or the separate Scottish regime.
Choose the right regime
FOIA 2000 — England, Wales, Northern Ireland and UK-wide authoritiesOrdinarily 20 working days. For FOIA/EIR 2004, a bank holiday in any UK nation is a non-working day.
FOISA 2002 — Scottish public authoritiesAlso ordinarily 20 working days, but “working day” uses Scottish bank holidays and appeals go to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Environmental informationEIR 2004 or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 may apply even if you called the request “FOI”.
Deadlines and clarification
Calculate the 20-working-day periodWorking-day definitions, public-interest extensions, special cases and the difference between UK and Scottish regimes.
If the authority says your request is unclearWhere clarification is genuinely needed to identify and locate the information, a clarified request starts a new response period.
Use the deadline calculatorSelect FOIA/EIR 2004 or the Scottish regime before calculating.
Challenge and escalate
Internal review / reconsiderationThe timing and legal status differ between FOIA, EIR 2004, FOISA and the Scottish EIRs.
Challenge a refusalCheck the exemption or exception, reasoning, public-interest assessment and search.
Who regulates?
The ICO handles FOIA 2000 and EIR 2004 complaints. The Scottish Information Commissioner handles FOISA 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.