The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) gives you the right to request any recorded information held by Surrey County Council.
You can also make a request for environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). The guidance on this page applies to both FOIA and EIR and you may see these referred to simply as 'information requests'.
If you would like to access information which Surrey County Council may hold about you, please complete the subject access request form.
Before you make a request
Did you know that the information you are seeking may already be available online?
Before submitting an information request, you may wish to consider the following:
- we publish all of our information request responses on our disclosure log.
- datasets, such as pothole reporting and senior staff salaries, are available via our Open Data page and Surrey-i.
- our publication scheme holds the types of information that the Council routinely makes available to the public.
- Surrey Fire and Rescue incident reports can be obtained for a fee by completing an incident report payment form.
- there is currently a two-tier system of local government in Surrey, some functions are the responsibility of the district and borough councils.
If you are reporting an issue or have a general enquiry regarding roads, transport or countryside, please contact our roads, transport and countryside service.
How to make a request
Any information not available through our publication scheme can be requested by filling out the FOIA request form.
You can also:
- Email: foi@surreycc.gov.uk
- Post: Freedom of Information Officer, Law & Governance, Surrey County Council, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF.
A valid information request must include:
- your full name.
- a correspondence address, such as an email address.
- a clear description of the information you require. Please be sure to be as specific as possible with your requirements and, if applicable, please provide the date range you require us to search our records for.
- the preferred format in which you would like to receive the information, such as a spreadsheet.
How we handle your request
Acknowledgement – we will acknowledge receipt of your information request in writing.
Timeframe - we have 20 working days in which to respond to your request. Please note that in some circumstances it may be necessary to extend this deadline. We will contact you if this is the case.
Clarification - we may need to ask you to clarify any aspect of your request that is preventing us from proceeding with it.
Exemptions and exceptions - the FOIA and EIR may restrict the release of some or all of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment and if any exemptions apply to some or all of the information then we might not provide that information to you. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) publishes a full list of exemptions and exceptions.
Refusing a request
On occasion, it may be necessary to refuse some or all of your information request if:
- you have made a request for your own personal information. This information should be requested via the subject access request form.
- we do not hold the information requested.
- a FOIA exemption or EIR exception applies, such as: personal data, commercially sensitive data or information that is already in the public domain.
If all or part of your request exceeds the cost limit – which for a local authority is £450 (the equivalent of 18-working hours) – it will be refused. In this instance, we will provide advice and assistance on how you may wish to revise your request to bring it under the cost limit. More information is available from the ICO - requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, please get in touch with us and we will work with you to resolve any outstanding matters. If you feel that your concerns remain unresolved, you can request that we undertake an internal review. Details on how to request an internal review are included in your response letter.
If you disagree with the findings of our internal review, you have the right of appeal to the Information Commissioner: FOIA and EIR complaints.