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Freedom of information request to a public authority (UK)
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales · in English
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10 questions · about 4 min
Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
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For anyone who wants information held by a council, government department, NHS or HSC body, police force, school or other public authority in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or a UK-wide body, including its offices in Scotland: a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, also covering environmental information, asking for a reply within 20 working days. Many authorities have their own free online form or FOI email address. A Scottish public authority — the Scottish Government, a Scottish council, NHS Scotland or a Scottish school — answers under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 instead: use the Scottish request for it.
- Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You want to find out how much your council in England spent on a particular project.
- You want figures held by a hospital trust or a police force and want to ask in writing.
- You are running a local campaign and need documents from a public body in Wales or Northern Ireland.
- You want to make a freedom of information request to a public authority in the UK.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town or city
- Sender's postcode
- Date
- Authority or body holding the information
- Address of the authority or body
- Information requested
- How you want to receive the information
Common questions
- Does the public authority have its own form for freedom of information requests?
- Often yes: most councils, NHS bodies, police forces and government departments publish an FOI web form or email address, and you can simply use that, free. Any written request is valid if it gives your real name, an address for the reply (an email address is enough) and describes the information. The free public site WhatDoTheyKnow also sends requests and publishes the answers. This letter is for when you want your own clear, dated request.
- Do I have to say why I want the information?
- No. The Act gives the right to anyone, of any nationality, and an authority should not ask why — though explaining your purpose can help it find the right records or suggest a narrower request. Describe the information as precisely as you can: the subject, the period and the kind of record. An authority may refuse a request that would cost too much to answer, or one that is vexatious, and must say which exemption it relies on.
- What can I do if the authority does not answer within 20 working days or refuses?
- First ask the authority for an internal review, setting out why you disagree or that it has not replied. If you are still dissatisfied after the review, complain to the Information Commission (still called the ICO) — normally within six weeks of the review’s outcome; it can order the authority to answer. Its decision can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. A Scottish public authority answers under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 instead, with its own review and the Scottish Information Commissioner.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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