Complaints Procedure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and Environmental Information Regulations 2004
This document has been designed to give you an understanding of our Freedom of
Information Complaints Procedure should you be dissatisfied with the outcome or
handling of your request.
Who can complain?
Anyone who has made an FOI request to the University of Wales, Newport in writing
can complain. If you have requested information and you are not satisfied with the
way we have dealt with your request, you can use this review process to have it
looked at again. If you are unable to initiate this process yourself you can designate
someone to do so on your behalf however, it will help us if you make it clear that you
are doing so. You will have 60 calendar days in which to make a complaint.
What can I complain about?
You can request a review about anything which you feel has not been carried out in a
satisfactory manner. This can be, for example, the amount of information supplied, or
the way exemptions were applied. You can also seek a review about the way a
request was handled - for example, the time it took to respond, or how much help you
were given to identify the information you required.
How do I complain?
All FOI complaints must be in writing, and to deal with your request as quickly as
possible, it will help if you can give the reason for your complaint and give us as
much information as you can about your original request (such as the reference
number). That will help us to find our records on the request as quickly as possible.
You may wish to contact the Records and Information Manager prior to making a
formal complaint as the matter may be able to be resolved informally with further
explanation.
What happens to my complaint?
Once we have enough details to identify the request, we will begin a review of the
case. The University Secretary will be responsible for overseeing the review. We may
need to get in touch with you during the review to clarify certain matters.
Once we have completed our review, we will inform you of our findings. To take into
account the more complicated cases we aim to complete reviews within a maximum
of 2 months. However, we will contact you as soon as possible after receipt of your
request for review with an estimate of the time-scale involved which will be reflective
of the complexity of the case.
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If we should have provided information and have not provided it, we will send you the
information as soon as possible.
If we believe after review that our original response was correct, we will let you know
this and inform you of your options as outlined below.
What if I'm still not satisfied?
If you are still not satisfied you can refer your case to the Information Commissioner,
who may investigate the matter on your behalf.
The Information Commissioner’s details are as follows:
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 02070 257580
e-mail: [email address]
This option is open to you at all times, but we would prefer to sort things out at a local
level if possible, as this is likely to be quicker and easier for all concerned. We will
make all required information available to the Information Commissioner should he
wish to investigate.
How can I get more information on FOI Complaints?
If you have any further questions about the FOI Complaints procedure, please
contact the Records and Information Manager on 01633 432215, or email
[email address]
We will publish the outcome of previous complaints and our performance against our
target for completing reviews.
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