‘Re-use’ means using the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which the document was originally produced. This could include a commercial purpose. You may re-use the material featured on this website (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium. You must re-use it accurately and not in a misleading context. You must acknowledge the material as Rother District Council copyright and give the title of the document/publication.

Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. We encourage users to establish hypertext links to this site.

This page explains how you go about asking for permission to re-use other information and how the Council will deal with these requests. You can get more information from The Office of Public Sector Information

The Regulations do not provide access to the information itself. Requests for access to information will be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act.

To be valid a request must:

  • Be in writing;
  • State your name and a correspondence address;
  • Specify the document which you want to re-use;
  • State the purpose for which the document is to be re-used.

There is no prescribed form and your request can be made by applying in writing to the Service Manager – Corporate and Human Resources at Town Hall Bexhill on Sea East Sussex TN39 3JX or by email to foi@rother.gov.uk.

Enquirers are directed in the first instance to the Council’s Publication Scheme which doubles as the Council’s Information Asset Register. Not every document covered by each class will be available. However the available documents will be included in one or other of the classes.

We aim to respond to your request within 20 working days. Sometimes it may be necessary to extend the time limit. Where this happens we will tell you before the end of the 20 working day deadline why we are extending the time limit and the date on which we expect to be able to respond.

Responding to a request means:

  • Making the requested document available for re-use, or
  • Where conditions are attached to the re-use, finalising the offer to you of the conditions on which re-use will be permitted, or
  • Refusing the request.

The Regulations allow the Council to refuse requests for one or more of the following reasons:

  • The document contains information in which intellectual property rights are owned by a third party. An example would be architectural drawings which the Council has commissioned from an architect who retains the copyright;
  • The content of the document is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000;
  • The document falls outside the Council’s statutory functions.

If we refuse your request for re-use we must inform you in writing of the reason for refusal. We must also advise you of your rights of an internal review and of appeal. Where the refusal is because intellectual property rights are owned by a third party we have to tell you who owns the relevant intellectual property rights, where we know that information; or the name of the person from whom we obtained the document.

We do not have to create or adapt a document in order to comply with a request for re-use; nor are we required to provide an extract from a document where it would involve disproportionate effort, or continue to produce a certain type of document just so that someone else can re-use it.

Sometimes we will impose conditions on re-use. Where we do this conditions will be imposed by Licence, but they will not unnecessarily restrict the way in which a document can be re-used or restrict competition. We can charge for allowing re-use, but we are not allowed to charge more than it costs us to provide the information, other than allowing a reasonable return on our investment. Because of the potential diversity of requests for re-use we have taken the view it is not reasonably practicable to publish standard charges.

We cannot discriminate between two applicants who request the same information. Both requests have to be dealt with. We cannot grant you exclusive rights to re-use the information, except where the arrangement is for the provision of a service in the public interest; for instance where we work in partnership with someone who produces tourist information. If you are granted exclusive rights, these will be reviewed every 12 months and the details of the exclusivity agreement may have to be published on our website.

You can complain via the Council’s Complaints Procedure. If you are still unhappy after the Council’s Complaints Procedure has been completed you can contact The Office of Public Sector Information.

Any appeal to OPSI must be lodged before the end of 28 working days from the date you were advised by us of the outcome of our internal review. If you are not happy with how OPSI has dealt with your complaint you can complain to the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information.

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