Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you right of access to information produced in the course of the council's work.
There are exemptions to this right; in particular, data about living identifiable people ('personal data') continues to be covered by the Data Protection Act and is not generally publicly available except to the "subject" of the data - that is, the person who the data is about.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the council has published a Publications Scheme which lists all the documents which the council makes public as a matter of routine.
The council's commitment to the principles behind the Act is emphasised in its Freedom of Information Policy, which begins, "The London Borough of Lambeth Council sees the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act as a welcome opportunity . . . to improve ways in which it informs the public it serves". It goes on to say, "The council wishes to conduct its business in an open and honest fashion. When the council makes a decision, it is important that the public is informed how these decisions have been made."
If you want to ask the council for information, using one of the following forms will help us find what you want:
If you have a simple request for information - one that you think will be satisfied by reference to a single record or document - you may simply contact the council by any medium to ask for it (just as you have been able to in the past) rather than make a formal request. We endeavour to answer these 'general enquiries' in ten days rather than the 20 days allowed for formal Freedom of Information requests.
You can find out more in our Freedom of Information Act leaflet.