Complaints

If you consider that the Authority is not complying with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, you may in the first instance submit a formal written complaint to the Authority’s Monitoring Officer setting out the grounds of your complaint. For example, you may consider that:-

It has applied an exemption to refuse to disclose information which is not applicable in the circumstances;
It has failed to respond to your request, or failed to do so within the time limit set out in the Act; or
It has made unreasonable charges for providing the information.

The address of the Authority’s Monitoring Officer is:-

Head of Legal & Democratic Services,
Civic Centre,
Port Talbot,
SA13 1PJ

In the event that you have made a complaint to the Authority’s Monitoring Officer and are dissatisfied with his/her response you may complain directly to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner has powers to issue decision notices and enforcement notices on public authorities to ensure that they comply with their responsibilities under the Act in appropriate circumstances.

The address of the Information Commissioner is:-

Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 08456 306060

Please note that complaints to the Information Commissioner should be submitted to his office as soon as possible and preferably not later than two months after a public authority has provided the requestor with its response.