Freedom of Information

The Reuse of Public Sector Information

The Government has passed a law governing the re-use of public sector information (Statutory Instrument 2005 No 1515, The Re-Use of Public Information Regulations 2005), here referred to as 'the Regulations'. The Regulations came into effect on 1 July 2005. They encourage the re-use of public sector information - that is in this instance, information for which the Council holds the copyright.

What is meant by re-use?

When the Council releases information to the public which has been requested under access to information legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the member of the public/the applicant may ask if they can re-use the information, perhaps for commercial purposes, in a way which, without permission, might breach the Council copyright. It is this sort of situation with which the Regulations are concerned An example could be, that Council has an internal training document or procedure note which is sought under the Freedom of Information Regulations and thereafter the person who sought it may wish, perhaps as part of a larger work, to reproduce that briefing note or training note if they think it represents Best Practice".

1. Copyright

The supply of documents to the member of the public/the applicant by the Council (for example under the FOIA) does not give them a right to re-use them in a way that would infringe that copyright, for example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public or to any other person.

Brief extracts of any of the material may be reproduced without the Council's permission, under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of ourselves as the copyright owner. But wider re-use requires permission.

The Council may choose to allow re-use under licence, imposing conditions on the re-use of the information to ensure it is not used in a manner inconsistent with the Council's copyright; and charge a re-use fee.

Download an example Standard Licence for Material Use (26Kb, pdf file)

2. How do I apply to re-use information?

If you would like to apply to re-use information for which the Council holds the copyright, you must:

Make your request in writing
State your name
Give an address for correspondence
Specify the document requested and
State the purpose for which the document is to be re-used

The request should be sent to:

Freedom of Information Officer,
Bexley Council Local Studies
and Archives Centre,
Townley Road,
Bexleyheath, Kent,
DA6 7HJ

or by email to: foi@bexley.gov.uk

You will receive a response in 20 working days (beginning from the first working day after the request is received) for a response to a request for re-use. This period may be extended where the request is extensive or complex.

Some information will be reusable for free, though a licence fee can though in some circumstances be issued. (See Charges below). Each response will detail any conditions for re-use

3. Exemptions to re-use

Re-use can be refused if:

The activity of supplying the document is one which falls outside its public task.
The document contains content in which relevant intellectual property rights are owned by a third party.
The content of the document is exempt from access by virtue of the FOIA.