Hampshire Constabulary has a dedicated team dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Requests for information

Under the Freedom of Information Act, a public authority must consider all requests for recorded information it receives and must:

  • Inform the applicant whether the information is held; and
  • Supply the requested information subject to the application of exemptions contained within the Act.

This general right of access is afforded to anybody residing anywhere in the world.

The FOIA is fully retrospective and covers all information held in a recorded format.

Our procedures

Hampshire Constabulary is guided in its handling of FOI requests by the ACPO National Manual of Guidance (.pdf, 825KB) and its own internal force procedure.

Time considerations

The deadline for a public authority to respond to requests made under FOI is 20 working days, although there are some circumstances where this may be extended under the terms of the legislation. Occasionally, for example, if a request requires clarification, is particularly complicated or subject to the application of certain exemptions where there is a need to consider public interest factors, the 20 working day period may be extended.

Where clarification is required, Hampshire Constabulary will stop the 20 working day time clock until clarification has been received from the applicant and will close off the request completely if no clarification is received within 60 working days.

Statutory cost limit

The cost limit for responding to FOI requests is £450 or 18 hours worth of work. Where it is estimated that the request for information is likely to exceed the statutory cost limit, the request will be refused by the force on the grounds of cost.

Compliance with the Act

Compliance with the FOI is monitored by the Information Commissioner. 

How to obtain information

To make a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act, the following criteria must be met:

  • The request must be made in writing
  • It can be made by letter, fax or email
  • It must contain a return address (this can be an email address)
  • It must clearly identify the information being sought
  • It must be legible
  • It must contain details of the format you would like the information to be sent to you (eg on disc, via email, hard copy)

To assist you in making an FOI request, you may wish to complete the form on this page.

Alternatively, requests made to Hampshire Constabulary under the Freedom of Information Act should be sent to:

Public Access Office,
Police Headquarters,
West Hill,
Romsey Road,
Winchester,
Hants.
SO22 5DB

Telephone: 101
Email: public.access@hampshire.pnn.police.uk

A valid FOIA request must contain your name and an address. The provision of any other contact details is optional, however any additional information you choose to provide will enable us to provide you with a faster and more efficient service.

Please note that if you are requesting details of information held about yourself by Hampshire Constabulary (ie your personal data) the completed form will be passed to the Data Protection Unit for consideration under the Data Protection Act. They will send you a Subject Access Application Form. There is a fee of £10 for this process and you will be required to show two forms of identification.

Having opened the form, you will need to complete and submit it within 45 minutes to ensure successful receipt.

Disclosure log & proactively published information

Before submitting an FOI request, you may wish to refer to the force's disclosure log on which all of our previous responses are published:

The force proactively publishes additional information that is routinely requested under FOI on an annual basis. You may wish to check this to determine if the information you are seeking has already been disclosed:

There is no requirement for an FOI request to be made on a particular form or even for the Act to be mentioned.  However, it would assist us enormously if the request form on this page were used.

Any information that you submit via this form will be sent through non-secure means and will potentially be viewable by third parties. By using this form you agree that any information submitted is done so at your own risk.

Title:

Surname:

Forename(s):

Address:

Email Address:

Telephone Number:

Fax Number:

Name Of Business/organisation (if request is being made on behalf of a business or organisation)

Position held within the business/organisation

Outline of information required:

Would you like a copy of the original or a summary of the information?



What format do you require?




Please give details of any special requirements in respect of format

Where we do not hold the requested information we may consult third parties and transfer your request to another public authority if appropriate. Please tick the box below if this is not acceptable.


Data Protection Act 1988: Your personal data will only be used to enable us to deal with your request and for no other purpose.