Your Right to 
Appeal 
 
 
 
Where a request for information under the individual right of access is denied, the applicant has the right to 
appeal against a decision. Appeals should in the first place be made to Surrey Police where they will be 
subject to a review process, but should the applicant still be unhappy they will have the right to appeal to the 
Information Commissioner. 
 
This document has been designed to help you to understand how to appeal about the way a request has 
been handled. It will help you to decide whether to appeal if you read the questions that follow. 
 
If I am not happy with the way my request for information is dealt with, can I appeal?
Yes, if you have requested information and are not happy with the way we have dealt with your request, you 
can use the appeal process. 
What can I appeal about?
You can appeal about the range, amount and format of information we send you. You can also appeal about 
the way the request was handled, for example, the time it took us to respond to your request, or the way the 
letter was worded. 
How do I appeal?
It will help if you can give as much information as you can about the request you made, the reason for the 
appeal and your contact details. We will need these details to start the appeal process and to keep in contact 
with you and update you. In all cases it will speed things up if you quote the reference used when we supply 
information. 
What happens to my appeal?
When we have enough information to identify your request, we will review what happened. The review will 
be conducted by our FOI Appeals Panel, made up of senior managers within Surrey Police. If necessary, 
their review will be referred to the Deputy Chief Constable or another Chief Officer. 
We may need to get in touch with you during the review. Once the review is completed, we will send you a 
copy of the report. The FOI Appeals Panel meet once a month and your enquiry will be dealt with as 
expeditiously as possible. 
Where it is established that we have not followed the proper procedures, or failed to provide a high quality of 
service, we will explain what we will do to make sure it will not happen again. If we should have provided the 
information, then we will send you the documents immediately. If we believe after the review that our original 
response was correct, we will let you know this and inform you of your options. 
What if I am still not satisfied? 
If you are still not happy with the way we have dealt with your request and your appeal, you can still go to the 
Information Commissioner, who may investigate the matter on your behalf. It is the Information 
Commissioner who will decide if they will investigate or not. If they choose to investigate it, we will make all 
the information available to the Information Commissioner to investigate. The Information Commissioner is 
responsible for ensuring that all public authorities comply with the Act. 
Surrey Police Headquarters, Mount Browne, Sandy Lane, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1HG 
Tel: 01483 254789   Fax: 01483 482547   Email: [email address]   Website: 
www.surrey.police.uk 

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