Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides a general right of access to recorded information held by public authorities – it applies to Cheltenham Borough Homes as we manage Cheltenham Borough Council’s social housing.

Anybody making a request for information is entitled to be told whether we hold the information, whether there is any cost to provide it, and subject to any exemptions, to be supplied with the information within 20 working days.

Publication Scheme

CBH is committed to improving the delivery of our services and ensuring that we are open and transparent. We have adopted and maintain a Publication Scheme which you can view here. This is to ensure that, wherever possible, information is proactively made available without the need for requests and to encourage a culture of openness. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here you can contact us.

What information is not available?

Certain information is exempt from the FOIA. Some exemptions are absolute which means that we cannot release this information at all and some are qualified which means we have to decide whether it is in the public interest to release the information. Further information about exemptions is available on the Information Commissioner’s web site. The FOIA doesn’t apply to personal information. This is covered by the Data Protection legislation. If you wish to access personal information held about you by CBH please see our Privacy Notice.

How to make a Freedom of Information request

Freedom of information requests must be made in writing. Please submit your request by using our online FOI form. Alternatively you can email your request to FOI@cheltenham.gov.uk or contact the Information Governance Officer by post at Cheltenham Borough Council, Promenade, Cheltenham Gloucestershire, GL50 9SA. We may need to ask you a few questions to make sure we give you exactly what you want.

You don’t have to tell us why you want the information but it will help to give as much detail as possible so that we can deal with your request as quickly as we can.

You can ask us a question rather than making a request for specific documents, however we don’t have to answer questions if this means creating new information or giving an opinion or judgment that is not already recorded.

Some information may not be given to you because it is exempt from the FOIA, for example because it would unfairly reveal personal details about somebody else. Further information about exemptions can be found on the Information Commissioner’s web site.

We have a duty to inform you whether or not we hold the information and to provide you with the information within 20 working days. If we don’t have the information we’ll let you know as soon as possible and, if we can, we’ll let you know where else you might find it.

If we need clarification to help us deal with the request, the 20 working day time limit will stop until we receive clarification from you. If we don’t receive clarification within three months we’ll assume you no longer require the information.

We don’t have to comply with vexatious requests – this means repeated, unreasonable or nuisance requests.

Please feel free to contact the information governance officer for more information:

Email: FOI@cheltenham.gov.uk
Telephone: 01242 262626
Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 9SA

Do I have to pay?

We are committed to making as much information available as possible free of charge, however we can charge for actual costs incurred such as photocopying or postage and packaging costs.

A charge can also be made if a significant amount of staff time is needed to fulfil your request. If the cost of locating and providing the information would exceed £450 (18 hours of staff time), we can refuse to process your request or we can request that you pay the full cost of the search.

If we need to charge for the information, a fees notice will be issued stating how much the cost will be. The 20 working day time limit will stop until the fee is received. If the fee is not paid within three months, we’ll assume you no longer require the information. The fees that we can charge are set out in the Freedom of Information Fees Regulations 2004. Further information on charging is available on the Information Commissioner’s website.