Charging for information

The following information sets out our charging arrangements for information under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations.

• Information available through the publication scheme
• Information not in the publication scheme
• Disbursements charges (postage, photocopying etc)
• Staff costs
• If you are not satisfied

Information available through the publication scheme

Information which is accessible on the publication scheme has a separate charging scheme.  Under each class of information the publication scheme states whether there is a charge for that information.  Most information is available for free. 

If you would like a hard copy of the information which is electronically available on the publication scheme or our website, then we will charge 3p per sheet.  You may also be charged for postage and packing at the standard Royal Mail posting charges.  If the copying, printing and postage charge is less than £10 in total then we will waive the costs. 

Information not in the publication scheme

A vast amount of information is already available via our publication scheme or on the website free of charge, but there may be some information that you might need to pay for.  When you make a request (for information which is currently not available), we may charge you either for the postage and photocopying costs (known as disbursements) or for the staff time (known as staff costs) it takes us in locating and collating the information.  Please note that we do not provide printed copies of pages from other organisations’ websites. 

Disbursements charges (postage, photocopying etc)

The cost will vary according to the number of copies and pages. Charges will generally apply as follows:

• Information is available electronically (website or email)
  We will not charge you for sending information electronically. 
• By post
  Free unless the total cost for copying and postage exceeds £10, in which case we will charge the actual cost.  To calculate the cost, we charge 3p a sheet for photocopying and paper costs and then the actual postage costs as advised by Royal Mail.
• By personal inspection
  Information can be viewed free of charge if you visit our premises. For pages of information which you want to photocopy, a charge of 3p per sheet may be made.
• Information requested in a format other than printed on paper or by email
  If you want to receive the information in a particular format (e.g. on CD, floppy disk), then a charge may be made to provide the information in that format.  You will be advised of the cost at the time of your request.     

We will not charge you for disbursements where the total cost is less than £10.  Please note that where disbursements are waived (i.e. because cost is less than £10), staff costs may still be payable. 

Where the total disbursement cost is more than £10, you will be given a fees notice as quickly as possible, requesting payment of the fee.  The information you have requested will only be provided to you once the full fee is received (and if by cheque, once the cheque has cleared). Ordinarily we have to respond to your request within 20 workings days. If a fee is payable, we are allowed under the Freedom of Information Act to stop counting the days elapsed between the date the fees notice has been issued and the date your payment is received. 

You will also be given advice on whether we can provide the information to you in a way to avoid paying the fee. For example, we may offer to provide the information to you in a different way or help adjust your request. 

Staff costs

We may make a charge for the staff time in responding to your request for information.  We will only charge if we estimate that the staff time will cost more than £450 in total; if it does then we may charge the full staff costs.  This will be based on a calculation of £25 per hour, per person.   

This works out that where we expect that certain activities (see below for what activities can be included in this calculation) will take 18.5 hours work or longer then we may charge. 

The figure of £450 and the £25 hourly rate are set by the Government.

Activities that can be taken into account for calculating staff costs

• Determining whether the information requested is held;
• Locating and retrieving the information 
• Extracting the information from a document containing it (initial reading, not subsequent reading(s)).  
• Summarising the information, or editing it (for example, when we think an exemption applies to part of the information). 

Activities that cannot be taken into account for calculating staff costs

• Checking if the request meets the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
• Considering whether the information is exempt.
• Considering whether the request is vexatious or repeated.
• Calculating the fee.
• Providing advice and assistance to the applicant. 

We estimate that in most cases there will be no charge for staff costs. 

Where a fee is payable, you will be given a fees notice as quickly as possible after you have made the request. 

The fees notice will be an estimate of any staff costs, together with any disbursement costs. Once you have paid the fee as requested and have been provided the information, we will check whether the actual cost is more or less than the estimated costs. Where it is less, we will give you a refund for the extra amount that we charged you. We won’t charge you extra if the actual cost is higher.

Aggregated costs

In certain circumstances the costs of answering more than one request can be added together for the purposes of estimating whether the £450 limit would likely to be exceeded.  This is where requests by one or more individuals are repeated or part of a campaign. If we intend to aggregate costs we will inform you first. 

On what basis will LFEPA refuse to respond to a request for information on the basis of staff costs.

LFEPA reserves the right to refuse to respond to a request for information where the staff costs exceed £450. If we decide to do this you will be informed and we will give you the reason for this decision. This decision will be made, on behalf of the Authority, by the Head of Strategy, Planning and Performance in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Head of Legal Services. 

Generally speaking we may refuse to respond to a request for information where the cost of doing so would be disproportionate or where there is some other means available to the applicant to access the information. 

Advice and assistance will be given to you to help you rephrase your request so that the £450 limit is not triggered and so that you can access information.   

Please note that where a request is dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, we will not refuse to respond to the request on the basis of costs. 

If you are not satisfied

If you are not satisfied with the service you have received then contact the Information Access Team or see details about how to make a compliment or complaint.

If you are not satisfied with the decision taken to refuse to respond to you request on basis of costs or with how much you are being charged then you can ask us to review our decision by writing to the Director of Corporate Services, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL. 

If our internal processes have been exhausted and you are still unhappy with the outcome, you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

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