Introduction
Somerset County Council has a key role to play in supporting local health provisions in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and the roll-out of the mass vaccination programme. As a result, it has been necessary to redeploy some staff from their usual roles into roles which are essential to those efforts. This necessary focus will have an impact on some of our ‘business as usual’ functions and will mean, that in some cases, we will not be able to answer Freedom of Information requests within the statutory timescales. We understand that this may cause frustration and appreciate your patience during these unusual times.
You have the right to ask us for recorded information on any subject (but not information about you or other private individuals) under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
If you are unable to find information through our Publication Scheme or our responses, you can write to us or fill in our online form to request the information.
Please do not use this form to request information about you, or other private individuals. To do this please visit our Your rights on the information we hold about you page.
You must make your Freedom of Information request in writing.
Under the EIR you can make your request verbally, or in writing, and it is good practice for us to confirm your request in writing to make sure we have understood it properly.
All requests must contain
- Your name and address for correspondence
- A description of the information you require
There are guides on making a request on the GOV.UK and Information Commissioner’s Office websites.
Previous requests
We publish our responses to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), where the information is of wider public interest. This is called a disclosure log and you can search previous responses by using the Answers button below.
In addition, responses to FOIA and EIR requests made to Mendip District Council (MDC) after 12 May 2022 will also appear in this disclosure log. When searching for MDC requests and responses please include the letters MDC at the start of your search. All Mendip requests will begin with the prefix MDC.
Freedom of Information statistics
Below is the number of Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Requests that have been received and sent out within the 20 working day deadline.
| Time period | Number received | Number in time | Percentage on time |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 to March 2012 | 934 | 837 | 89.61% |
| April 2012 to March 2013 | 846 | 599 | 70.80% |
| April 2013 to March 2014 | 1237 | 763 | 61.68% |
| April 2014 to March 2015 | 1331 | 758 | 56.95% |
| April 2015 to March 2016 | 1192 | 692 | 58.05% |
| April 2016 to March 2017 | 1219 | 772 | 63.33% |
| April 2017 to March 2018 | 1249 | 830 | 66.45% |
| April 2018 to March 2019 | 1340 | 900 | 67.16% |
| April 2019 to March 2020 | 1187 | 1026 | 86.44% |
| April 2020 to March 2021 | 971 | 837 | 86.20% |
