Existing IMB Members
Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act gives anybody the right to access information held by public authorities, including central government departments. Its provisions bind Independent Monitoring Boards as public authorities. This means that members of the public can make an information request to us.
If You Have Received a Freedom of Information Request
Steve Kilbey is the Information Access Representative for IMBs and all requests for information should be passed to him for action. He will examine and deal with the request and may need to contact your Board for information. The Board Chair will be copied into any correspondence and the Board should keep a record of the application and action(s).
IMBs operating in prison establishments should familiarise themselves with their publication scheme and with PSO 9020, which deals with the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts.
The time scale for responses is 20 working days for Freedom of Information applications and 40 working days for Data Protection Act applications. It is critically important that these time scales are adhered to.
