The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) is intended to promote openness and accountability in public sector bodies. It gives everyone the right to see information held by public authorities so that there is a better understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make their decisions and how they spend public money.

From 1 January 2005 people will have the right to make a request for any information held by a public authority, subject to some exemptions and public interest tests. The council has to comply with the Act regarding these exemptions and tests when disclosing the information.

The Act requires that information readily available from public authorities is published, easily accessible and identified on a Publication Scheme (pdf file 1,432KB). To use this file you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this on your computer, please use our advice page.

If the information being sought is not available via the Publication Scheme, requests must be made in writing, which includes letter, e-mail (customer.first@medway.gov.uk?subject=Request for Information) or a Request for Information e-form. Information requests have to be fulfilled within 20 working days of receipt of the request or of payment being received if there is a fee or if the council is considering whether an exemption applies.

The officer responsible for the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for Medway Council is the Director of Finance and Corporate Services.

For more information about the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and other related legislation, please visit the websites of the Information Commissioner (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/) or the Department of Constitutional Affairs (http://www.dca.gov.uk/).

The Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 all govern access to information held by English, Welsh and Northern Irish public bodies. The Act does not apply to Scottish public authorities, which come under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, overseen by a separate organisation, the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/).

The following pages offer help and advice on making requests for information: