CHARGING FOR INFORMATION

We aim to provide most information to the public at no cost and will only charge in cases where:

a fee must be imposed as a result of a statutory requirement.

or

the informtion amounts to more than 100 pages which will be calculated at a cost of 10p per sheet. The Council will not charge for photocopying which amounts to less than £10. Anyone requesting information for which a charge is payable may not seek the information in smaller batches, e.g. 90 pages at a time, in order to avoid the cost).

However, sometimes, we may have to make a charge and in this case we will contact you for your prior approval.

Charges will be as follows:

Priced Publications - where the information you require is available from the Council in a priced publication, we will supply details of the publication, its cost and where to obtain it.

Photocopying costs and postage (plus a small administrative charge) - where the information you require has already been prepared by us and we can photocopy or provide a computer printout, there will be photocopying and postage costs as well as a small administrative charge. This kind of information includes copies of entries in public registers and copies of the Council's internal guidance documents.

You do not pay VAT on requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Council has the discretion to waive charges if appropriate.

No charges will be made where a request for information is refused or where there is an appeal against a refusal. Nor will there be a charge to appeal against any charges made for requested information.

Ards Borough Council owns the copyright to the information it produces. If information is to be re-used or reproduced, commercially or otherwise, written approval must be obtained from the office of the Chief Executive.