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Freedom of Information Act 2000

Requests for information

The Freedom of Information Act came into full force on 1 January 2005 when applicants were able to exercise their full right to request access to any information the Council holds. Held means information recorded in any format.

If you require information about yourself held by Cumberland Council, this is dealt with under data protection law. Please visit our Data Protection page for more information.

One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is that public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they make available to the public. The Act is intended to encourage organisations to make more information available to the public and to develop a greater culture of transparency and openness.

Local Government Reorganisation

From 1st April 2023, for a transitional period, FOI and EIR requests will still need to be submitted to the former councils' websites.  To submit a request to the former Carlisle City Council please see details below.

Making a Freedom of Information request

For your request to be dealt with according to the Freedom of Information Act, you must:

  • make the request in writing, for example by using our online form, by email or by sending in the request form located in the downloadable documents.
  • give your full name
  • give an address to which we can reply. This can be a postal or email address.

Please be as specific as possible about the information you want.

For advice and assistance on making a Freedom of Information request please email [email protected]

Make an Information Request

Disclosure Log

For the period 1st December 2020 to 31st March 2023 you can search the Disclosure Log to see Carlisle City Council’s responses to previous requests for information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

View the Disclosure Log

Prior to 1st December 2020 please see downloadable documents on this page for a list of requests received each year since 2017. If you would like a copy of a response please email [email protected] giving the reference number.

You can visit our Open Data site, where we put our most commonly requested datasets including Business Rates data. Many of the Council's registers are also available to view on our publication scheme page.

  Freedom of Information- FAQ

Access rights

Anyone is able to make a request for information, although the request must be in a permanent form (eg in writing or an e-mail).  The council has developed a downloadable information request form (see downloads section) which may help you frame your request. You may also use our online version of this form.

The Act gives applicants two related rights:

  • The right to be told whether the information exists
  • The right to receive the information (and where possible, in the manner requested, ie as a copy or summary, or the applicant may ask to inspect a record)

The council will have to respond to requests within 20 working days and we may charge a fee calculated according to Fees Regulations. If a fee is required it must be paid in advance and if the fee is not paid within three months then the request for information will lapse.

Any person who makes a request to the council for information must be informed whether the council holds that information and, subject to a number of exemptions, should be supplied with that information. In cases where information is covered by an exemption, the council is required to consider if the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

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