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News & Politics
How to:
use your right to know
How to…Pull-out section
Getting hold of information held by public authorities can
dramatically transform your campaign and put you in a much
better position to argue your point. New rights of access to
information come into force on 1 January 2005. Friends of
the Earth’s Legal Adviser Phil Michaels tells you how to make
best use of your rights
Issue 50 December 2004/January 2005
Your right to know
From 1 January 2005 you will have a right to see
and copy huge amounts of information held by 
all public authorities and by some private bodies,
unless it is protected by a specific exception 
(ie unless there is a legally stated ground on which
an authority is allowed to withhold information).
Knowing how to make use of these powerful new
legal rights of access is an essential tool for any
environmental campaigner. This guide provides 
key tips for using the laws and enforcing your rights.
Environmental information is much more than just
data. It can include or be included in expressions 
of opinions, reports, letters, analyses, studies, notes
of meetings, telephone recordings, emails between
authorities, and much more.
Making a request for information only takes a few
minutes but it may change your campaign forever.
A very broad definition of environmental
information is set out in the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004, to cover any
information in any form on:
(a) the state of the elements of the environment,
such as air, water, soil, land, biological diversity,
genetically modified organisms, and the interaction
among these elements;
(b) factors, such as substances, energy, noise,
radiation or waste, emissions, discharges and other
releases into the environment;
(c) measures (including administrative measures),
such as policies, legislation, plans, programmes,
environmental agreements, and activities affecting
or likely to affect the environment or designed 
to protect it;
(d) reports on the implementation of environmental
legislation;
(e) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and
assumptions used within the framework of the
measures and activities referred to in (c); and
(f) the state of human health and safety, including
the contamination of the food chain, where
relevant, conditions of human life, cultural sites 
and built structures inasmuch as they are or may
be affected by the state of the elements of the
environment (in (a)) or the factors or measures 
in (b) and (c).
What is Environmental Information?
Issue 50 December 2004/January 2005
How to…Pull-out section
Your request for information
Some features common to all requests 
for information
Authorities must respond as soon as possible and at
the very latest within 20 working days (four weeks).
Authorities must give detailed reasons for any
refusal to release information.
Authorities have a legal duty to provide advice and
assistance. This means that they must help you 
to draft your request where you need such help.
You have a legal right to a free appeal to the
Information Commissioner if you are refused
information or if your request is not treated properly.
Before you do so you should first of all make a
formal written complaint to the authority that refused
your request and ask them to reconsider.
There are limits to the amounts that may be
charged for information. Authorities must have 
a charging scheme which you can consult.
The Government has published Codes of Practice
(see Links below) for how authorities should comply
with their new obligations. These are a useful
resource for you to check that your rights are being
respected and that authorities are behaving properly.
Some key differences with requests 
for environmental information
Requests for environmental information need not 
be in writing (they have exactly the same legal effect
if you ask for information by phone or in person).
The grounds on which authorities can refuse 
to release environmental information are much
narrower (and there are less of them) than for 
other information.
The grounds on which authorities can refuse to
release environmental information only ever apply
where the public interest has been assessed and
favours withholding the information.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) only
currently applies to classic ‘public authorities’.
The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
also apply to a large number of private bodies
including waste companies, water companies,
power generating companies, airport operators 
and others. That means that you can write directly
to those companies and request environmental
information and they must give it to you.
Members of the public have a legal right to have a
refusal reconsidered (for free) by the same authority
that refused to release the information.
Links
Information about the law on Freedom of Information is on the Government’s website: www.foi.gov.uk
Information by the Campaign for Freedom of Information: www.cfoi.org.uk
Information Commissioner’s website: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Draft Environmental Information Regulations 2004: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/envinfo/annexc.pdf
Draft EIR Code of Practice: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/eir-guidance
Copy of the Freedom of Information Act: www.cfoi.org.uk/foiact2000.html
Freedom of Information Act Code of Practice: ww.foi.gov.uk/understand.htm
We will be providing a detailed guide to Your Right to Know before the end of the year. To get your
copy or to get a copy of the introduction of Your Right to Know in the last issue of Change your world,
please email right2know@foe.co.uk or telephone Jo Savy on 020 7566 1695. You can also use these
contact details to let us know how you are getting on with the new Right to Know system.
Access to environmental information is governed by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
(EIR). Access to all other information is governed by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Remember, these rights are in addition to the powerful rights that you already have to information 
held by Local Authorities and your rights of access to information held on public registers.
How to…Pull-out section
Using Right to Know successfully
Dave Binns of the IMPACT group
in Teeside was concerned about a
local project that involved the large-
scale demolishing of homes. He
asked for copies of information
sent from the Local Authority to
the Deputy Prime Minister about
the scheme. The Authority refused
to provide this because it had
been advised by the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister not to
release the information. Because
that advice is irrelevant in law,
Dave challenged their refusal by
writing again to demand the
information and assert his rights.
He was given the information he
wanted which turned out to be
really helpful to the campaign.
Dave said:
It gave power to our
elbow and showed them
that we knew what was going
on. The information that we got
exposed some of the dealings
that we had long suspected.”
Nick Cobbing/Friends ofthe EarthIn the pipeline
Earlier this year Friends of the
Earth wrote to the Export Credit
Guarantees Department (ECGD)
to request a report which ECGD
had commissioned into the safety
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
ECGD refused to release it to us
saying that it was commercially
confidential and arguing that 
they were not subject to the 
(old) Regulations.
Eventually, after many letters and
the threat of legal action, the
ECGD released the information 
to us as they were legally obliged
to do. The information was hugely
helpful in our campaign work.
Earlier this year Friends of the
Earth Northern Ireland asked
Cookstown District Council for
documentation on a recently
closed landfill site about which
they had serious concerns.
Our campaigners had asked for
copies of on-site inspections and
reports concerning the closure 
of the above site. The Council
responded saying that “the
information relating to the closure
of [the] Landfill Site is not
available for release to the
general public”. No reason was
given. When pressed further, the
Council wrote back refusing to
release the information because
“it is deemed commercially
sensitive”. Eventually, Friends 
of the Earth’s Right to Know 
team wrote to the Council. The
information was provided within
14 days. The information we
obtained highlighted a serious gap
in Northern Ireland’s regulatory
system. Northern Ireland
Campaigner Declan Allison said:
It is very empowering 
to know you have a right
to the information. The law is
on your side so don’t accept
any excuses, false claims or
delaying tactics. Keep at them,
embarrass them in the media,
threaten them with the law 
if you have to, and they will
eventually give in.”
“
Pipeline scrutiny: ECGD tried to withhold safety information on the pipeline but couldn’t in
the end. This sort of information should be easier to get under the new regulations.
Making an impact
Out of site
“
How to…Pull-out section
Issue 50 December 2004/January 2005
Focus your request on what you really want.
Asking for “all files relating to” something risks
running up costs and creating delay.
If your request involves a great volume of
records, suggest that the Authority contact you 
to discuss your request – this could save you time
and money.
Be specific. Help the authority by giving them as
much information as possible.
Let the authority know if there is some information
you need particularly quickly, so they can release it
to you before they have searched for the remainder.
If the information is needed particularly quickly set
the authority a deadline. They do not have to
comply with it but have a duty to respond as soon
as possible and to take your deadline into account.
You do not have to say why you want the
information but sometimes it will help the
authority to locate exactly what you want if
you explain the background. They have a duty 
to advise and assist you even if it is not in
their interests to do
so.
Let us know. Email: right2know@foe.co.uk. We
may not be able to help but we will certainly try.
Look at the Code of Practice and Guidance
Notes (see Resources); these will help you to
interpret the exceptions.
Carefully check the letter of refusal against the
relevant provision of the law. Do they match up?
Authorities must first of all weigh up the public
interest in withholding information against the
public interest in the particular exception. In such
cases, they may only withhold information where
the public interest in withholding information is
stronger. Have they done this? Are there public
interest reasons that they have not considered? 
When in doubt send them a letter asking them to
reconsider their refusal and explaining clearly why
you think that they have got it wrong. If you are
still refused then you should consider applying 
to the Information Commissioner.
Practical tips if you are refused information
Top tips for your information strategy
For environmental information you do not have to
put your request in writing, although it is best to
do so. In all other cases your request must be in
writing. Your letter or email must include your
name and an address at which the information
can be sent to you.
Ask that they tell you the cost in advance, or that
they need not do so if the cost is going to be less
than a specified sum, for instance £10.
Remind them that the information must be
provided to you “as soon as possible” (EIR) or
“promptly” (FOIA) and that you expect to receive
the information within two weeks.
Explain that the information is needed urgently
and, if you are happy to do so, why, for example
because you need it to prepare your evidence 
for a public enquiry or because you are working
with a journalist on a story.
Keep a copy of all correspondence to and from
the authority. You'll need it if you appeal later.
Keep a record of any phone conversations – 
the date, what was said, who you spoke to.
Follow a phone call up with a letter addressed 
to the person you spoke with.
Practical tips for making a request