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Freedom of Information - Complaints Procedure

Purpose

The aim of the complaints procedure is to resolve issues whereby information is withheld or requests are not answered within the set deadlines. We do this by undertaking an internal review (on request from the applicant) in which the Head of the Corporate Services Unit makes an independant assessment of the service provided.

What can I complain about?

If you feel that your Freedom of Information (FOI) or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) request has:

  • not been dealt with within the 20 working day time limit; and/or
  • that exemptions / public interest test have been wrongly applied,

you can ask to have an internal review carried out by the Head of Corporate Services Unit, stating the nature of your request and the details of your complaint, at:

Head of the

Corporate Services Unit
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB

Requests to have an internal review carried out should be made within 2 months of receipt of the Department’s response.

If you wish to make a complaint, you should write to the Department at the above address.

You can also contact the Head of the Corporate Services Unit if you feel that any fee charged has been wrongly calculated or if we have not made information available in accordance with the Department's publication scheme.

What can I expect from the review?

Your complaint will be acknowledged within 5 working days. While we aim to respond to all compalints within 40 working days, some complaints, due to their nature, may take longer to investigate. If we need more time to investigate your complaint we will contact you and give you an estimate of when you will receive a response.

If, following the internal review, it is decided that information previously withheld should be disclosed, this will be done as soon as it is practicable and you will be told when this to be.

Where we find that procedures have not been followed properly we will tell you what we will do to put it right and to make sure that similar errors do not occur in the future.

What if I am not happy with the outcome of the internal review?

If following the internal review you are still not satisfied, or if we have not been able to resolve your complaint, you can contact the Information Commissioner to ask for the matter to be investigated. You can contact the Information Commissioner (see the section on 'About the Freedom of Information Act') at

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 544700
Fax: 01625 524510
E-mail: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

If you require any further assistance you can contact us by telephoning the Information Management Unit at 028 9054 0266 or by e-mailing drdimu@drdni.gov.uk