Information requests

There are currently areas where access to official information is given free of charge or pursuant to an existing charging arrangement.

The amount of charge will be determined by:

• Establishing whether or not the request is made by an identifiable natural person seeking access to any personal information about that person.
• Such requests are not subject to any change.
• The aggregate amount of staff time exceeding one hour spent in actioning the request.
• This will include search and retrieval of information, the provision of transcripts and the supervision of access.
• The number of pages of A4 sized of foolscap photocopy to be provided exceeding 20.
• For any other cost, the amount actually incurred in responding to the request.
• This will cover the provision of copies of video, audio and film tapes, computer time or other situations where a direct charge is incurred.

Where repeated requests are made in respect of a common subject over intervals of up to eight weeks, the Council will aggregate these requests for charging purposes. This means that the second and subsequent requests will not be subject to half an hour of free time and 20 free standard A4 photocopies.

The charge should represent a reasonable fee for access given. It may include time spent:

• In searching an index to establish the location of the information.
• In locating (physically) and extracting the information from the place where it is held.
• In reading and reviewing the information.
• In supervising the access to the information.

The charge should not include any allowance for:

• Locating and retrieving information which is not where it ought to be; or
• Time spent deciding whether or not access should be allowed and in what form.

Where the free threshold is only exceeded by a small margin it is a matter of discretion whether any fee should be paid and, if so, how much.

Time spent by staff searching for relevant material, abstracting and collating, copying, transcribing and supervising access where the total time is in excess of one hour should be charged out as follows:

• An initial charge of $38.00 for the first chargeable half hour or part thereof; and
• Then $38.00 for each additional half hour or part thereof.

The rate of charge applies irrespective of the seniority or grading of the officer who deals with the request.

Time spent in deciding whether or not to approve access and in what form should not be charged.

Photocopying on standard A4 or foolscap paper should be charged out as follows:

• No charge 0 to 20 pages
• After the first 20 pages, printing costs will be charged as per the administration fees outline in this Schedule.

• All other charges incurred should be fixed at an amount, which recovers the actual costs involved.
• Producing a document by the use of a computer or other like equipment.
• Reproducing a film, video or audio recording.
• Arranging for the applicant to hear or view an audio or visual recording.
• Providing a copy of any map, plan or other document larger than A4 or foolscap size.

The liability to pay any charge may be modified or waived at the discretion of the department or organisation receiving the request under delegated authority. Full or partial remissions may be considered. Any request for remissions must be made in writing and must include:

• the requester details
• the legal status of the requester (e.g. individual, incorporated society, company, charitable trust etc)
• the reasons for the request
• the amount of remission that is requested.

Such decisions should have regard to the circumstances of each request. However, it would be appropriate to consider inter alia:

• Whether payment might cause the applicant financial hardship.
• Whether remission or reduction of the charge would facilitate enhanced relations with the public or assist the Council or applicant organisation in its work.
• Whether remission or reduction of the charge would be in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding or of effective participation in the operations or activities of local government, and the disclosure of the information is not primarily in the commercial or private interest of the requester.
• Whether the applicant has formal charitable status under the Charities Act 2005, or otherwise provides a recognised service to the community.
• Is the use of the information, activity or service likely to make a significant contribution to operations and activities of local government?
• Is the use of information, activity or service likely to improve or enhance the understanding of the subject by the public at large as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested people?
• Is the information relating to the charge meaningful or informative about operations and activities of government that have a direct connection to the reason for the request?
• Is the information relating to the charge already in the public domain in either the same or similar form, which the requester could acquire without substantial cost?
• Is the public at large the primary beneficiary of the expenditure of public funds or is it the requester or a narrow segment of interested people?
• Are there elements of the charges that will have a public benefit and/or is there a public/private benefit split that could be attributed to the charges?
• Is the information, activity or service primarily in the commercial or private interest of the requester rather than the public interest? While it might appear on initial consideration that requests for information, for say, research purposes or to write a book or to have available in a library, might be considered in the ‘public interest’ and answer some of the criteria; this may not necessarily be so. There should still be reasonable evidence to show that the wider public benefit will accrue as a result of the research, or book or library depository. In the case of the media however, it can be reasonably assumed that they do have access to means of public dissemination. Each request should be considered on a case-by-case basis in light of all relevant information.

Members of Parliament may be exempted from charge for official information provided for their own use. In exercising this discretion, it would be appropriate whether remission of charges would be consistent with the need to provide more open access to official information for Members of Parliament in terms of the reasonable exercise of their democratic responsibilities.

A deposit may be required where the charge is likely to exceed $90.00 or where some assurance of payment is required to avoid waste of resources. A deposit may only be requested after a decision has been made to make the information available.

The applicant should be notified of the amount of deposit required, the method of calculating the charge and the likely final amount to be paid. Work on the request may be suspended pending receipt of the deposit.

The unused portion of any deposit should be refunded forthwith to the applicant together with a statement detailing how the balance was expended.

Section 27(1)(b) of the Official Information Act 1982 provides that the Ombudsman may investigate and review any decision on the charge to be paid in respect of a request for access to official information.

A record should be kept of all costs incurred. Wherever a liability to pay is incurred the applicant should be notified of the method of calculating the charge and this fact noted on the record.