The Freedom of Information Act 2000 grants members of the public the right to request any recorded information held by the University.
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 gives the public the right to request recorded environmental information held by St George’s.
You can check our publication scheme to see if the information you are looking for is already available: Model Publication Scheme.
To make a request contact the Governance Legal and Assurance Team, providing the details of the information you require, your name, and contact details:
E-mail: foi@sgul.ac.uk
Mail:
Records Manager
Governance Legal and Assurance Services
St George’s, University of London
Cranmer Terrace
London SW17 0RE
When making your request please provide us with as much details as possible about the information you would like to be supplied with.
Once we receive your request under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations, we must provide you with the information within 20 working days (exclusive of weekends or bank holidays).
If you wish to request personal data St George’s holds about you do not make a freedom of information or environmental information regulation request. Instead, you should contact our Data Protection Officer regarding your request. Information on data protection and subject access requests can be found on our website: Data Protection.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the university to proactively publish defined types of information via a publication scheme - Model Publication Scheme. The publication scheme covers various classes of information including policies and procedures, minutes, annual reports, and financial information. Information on what should be contained in the model publication scheme and how it works can be found at the Information Commissioner’s Office website
St George’s also publishes data relating to some of our most popular requests. This data includes admissions statistics and statistics regarding the provision and use of our counselling service.
If you require any of the information contained in the publication scheme in an alternative format please contact FOI@sgul.ac.uk .
If, having reviewed the publication scheme you cannot find the information required you can make a freedom of information request by contacting FOI@sgul.ac.uk .
There are two pieces of legislation which gives people the right to request and access recorded information held by St George’s as a public authority:
Freedom Information Act (2000)
Applies to recorded information held by public authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Additionally, public authorities are required to proactively publish information in a publication scheme.
Environmental Information Regulations (2004)
The EIR applies to environmental information held by public authorities, and to organisations that carry out functions of public administration e.g. public private partnerships. Public authorities are also required to proactively publish information in the publication scheme.
Receiving a request
Governance Legal and Assurance Services (GLAS) manage the FOI and EIR process and requests are sent to foi@sgul.ac.uk. We will process the request and contact the person in your team responsible for providing a response to information access requests. When required GLAS will support you in compiling a response and can advise on the application of exemptions.
Producing a response
When you are notified that you have received an information access request, GLAS will provide you with a link to the query and response template. Please use this template to capture the information requested.
When producing a response to a FOI or EIR request you should ensure:
- You are clear as to what the applicant is requesting. We can request clarification from a requestor should any of their questions be unclear.
- Check that the information provided answers all the questions in the request.
- If you are providing a spreadsheet in response to a question, ensure there is no data hidden behind a filter for example. Guidance on removing hidden data from Microsoft Office products can be found by opening your document or spreadsheet for example, pressing F1 and typing ‘remove hidden data’. You will then have the relevant guidance to follow.
- Anonymise statistics if appropriate and provide guidance on why we have presented the information in that fashion i.e. to meet HESA requirements.
Support for FOI contacts
If you have any questions about the FOI or EIR process, contact the GLAS team via foi@sgul.ac.uk and we will be happy to discuss your queries with you. You can check if the information requested is already available via our publication scheme (Model Publication Scheme).
Training will be offered by GLAS to the members of staff responsible for compiling St George’s response to FOI and EIR requests.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) office guidance and advice on FOI and EIR which you can access via this link Guide to freedom of information | ICO
Undertaking good records management practices in your area can help you respond to an information access request by ensuring you know what records you hold and where they are. Records management guidance can be found on our records management pages: (Records Management).
If you are unhappy with how St George’s handled your Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulation request, you can make a complaint to the University. To complain contact St George’s Head of Information Governance providing the details of your request, the response you received, and your concerns about our response. The Head of Information Governance will investigate your complaint and contact you with the outcome and the details of what actions we will take if appropriate.
Geoffrey Gray, Head of Information Governance
ggray@sgul.ac.uk
St George’s University of London
Cranmer Terrace
London SW17 0RE
If you are still displeased with our response after your complaint is reviewed, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office who have oversight of the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations. You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office by e-mail at casework@ico.org.uk or https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/foi-and-eir-complaints/official-information-complaint/or at the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
There are two pieces of legislation which gives people the right to request and access recorded information held by St George’s as a public authority:
Freedom Information Act (2000)
Applies to recorded information held by public authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Additionally, public authorities are required to proactively publish information in a publication scheme.
Environmental Information Regulations (2004)
The EIR applies to environmental information held by public authorities, and to organisations that carry out functions of public administration e.g. public private partnerships. Public authorities are also required to proactively publish information in the publication scheme.
Receiving a request
Governance Legal and Assurance Services (GLAS) manage the FOI and EIR process and requests are sent to foi@sgul.ac.uk. We will process the request and contact the person in your team responsible for providing a response to information access requests. When required GLAS will support you in compiling a response and can advise on the application of exemptions.
Producing a response
When you are notified that you have received an information access request, GLAS will provide you with a link to the query and response template. Please use this template to capture the information requested.
When producing a response to a FOI or EIR request you should ensure:
- You are clear as to what the applicant is requesting. We can request clarification from a requestor should any of their questions be unclear.
- Check that the information provided answers all the questions in the request.
- If you are providing a spreadsheet in response to a question, ensure there is no data hidden behind a filter for example. Guidance on removing hidden data from Microsoft Office products can be found by opening your document or spreadsheet for example, pressing F1 and typing ‘remove hidden data’. You will then have the relevant guidance to follow.
- Anonymise statistics if appropriate and provide guidance on why we have presented the information in that fashion i.e. to meet HESA requirements.
Support for FOI contacts
If you have any questions about the FOI or EIR process, contact the GLAS team via foi@sgul.ac.uk and we will be happy to discuss your queries with you. You can check if the information requested is already available via our publication scheme (Model Publication Scheme).
Training will be offered by GLAS to the members of staff responsible for compiling St George’s response to FOI and EIR requests.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) office guidance and advice on FOI and EIR which you can access via this link Guide to freedom of information | ICO
Undertaking good records management practices in your area can help you respond to an information access request by ensuring you know what records you hold and where they are. Records management guidance can be found (Records Management).
When a freedom of information, or environmental information regulation request is submitted to the University, the requestor provides information about themselves and the information they wish to receive.
For information on how your information is processed and managed please read our FOI and EIR Privacy Notice 2023.