Freedom of Information Requests (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) was established in July 2022. It has replaced Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale, and Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and builds on the successful work by all our health and care organisations, including the CCGs, over the last five years. The ICB’s role will be to join up health and care services, improve people’s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.
Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations requests can be made to the West Yorkshire ICB about information that we hold. Please see our ICB policy for more information.
Freedom of information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives everyone a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public bodies. There are no restrictions on age or nationality, and you do not have to live within the geographical area of our WY ICB. The Act places an obligation on public bodies to disclose information. The Act also sets out a series of exemptions and limitations on the public’s right of access and on our obligations to you.
Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 gives you the right to obtain information held by public authorities about the environment.
Making an Freedom of Information (FOI) or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) request
How do I make a request?
All requests must be made in writing, clearly stating your name, an address for correspondence (this can be e-mail or postal address), and a description of the information required.
Requesting information
Our staff can advise and assist you in your request for information. If we cannot find the information you requested, we will offer you advice and assistance to help you clarify or redefine your request.
The more detail you can provide in your request, the quicker and easier it will be for us to try to identify, prepare and send it to you.
For instance, it would be useful if you could tell us:
- If the information you want is likely to be found in a specific document
- If you know of any references or document titles associated with the information
- If the information you want is available or listed in our publication scheme or on our website – if so the name of the document or web address would be useful
- If it has been previously supplied to you as this will help us to locate the information once more.
Format of information
Unfortunately, we cannot always supply the information in the format requested. If this is the case we will try to suggest alternative ways of providing you with the information.
If we discover that the information is freely available elsewhere, for example in our publication scheme website, or through a third party, we will inform you of this fact and guide you to where you can find it. Link to Publication Scheme and Disclosure Log
Refusal of request for information
We will always try to provide the information you want but we may refuse your request for information (either party or wholly) for a number of reasons:
- We may refuse your request if the information is covered by an exemption specified in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or an exception contained within the Environmental Information Regulations 2000, including but not limited to the protection of personal data as laid down by the general data protection regulation (GDPR). Should this be the case you will be informed of the exemption applied and the reason.
- Your request may be refused after careful consideration if it would be against public interest to disclose the information.
- We may refuse your request if it would take longer than 18 hours to find, which is the cost limit defined in section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
How to make a request
You can make an FOI or EIR request by email and post. FOI requests have to be in a written format, however Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests can be made verbally.
You can contact the Freedom of Information team by email, post or phone.
Email: wyicb.
Phone: 01274 256089
Address:
White Rose House
West Parade
Wakefield
WF1 1LT
Publication Scheme
The West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board is committed to meeting the statutory requirements under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and aim to make as much information as possible freely available on demand. One of the ways in which this is done is by publishing information in a publication scheme.
We strongly encourage you to check our publication scheme and website for the information that you are looking for before you make a request for information. Please be aware that we can refuse a written Freedom of Information Act request if the information is readily available in our publication scheme.
A publication scheme fosters openness in government and increases transparency of what we do, what we spend, our priorities, decisions, and policies. It is designed to improve public access to the information we hold and also makes it easier for you to find and obtain the information you need without needing to make a written request.
All public bodies, under the Freedom of Information Act, must regularly produce and maintain a publication scheme. We review our publication scheme frequently to ensure it meets our aims and obligations. Most of the information can be accessed free of charge, however in some cases you may be charged a fee.
Information available in our publication scheme
There are seven classes of information within a publication scheme for the health sector. These describe our organisation, role, priorities, governance, and how we account for expenditure.
Information not available through our publication scheme may be available on request.
The classes of information available in our publication scheme are:
- Who we are and what we do – information about our WY ICB such as structure, locations, and governance. It includes information on the legal status of the WY ICB and how to contact us.
- What we spend and how we spend it – financial information on projected and actual income, budgets and expenditure, procurement, tendering and contracts. It also includes information on financial audits of our WY ICB, accounts and details of allowances and expenses which board members and staff can claim.
- What are our priorities and how are we doing – this class details our strategy, plans and our main priorities as well as how we are performing against our plans and objectives. It also includes details of our audits, inspections and reviews.
- How we make decisions – information on our consultation and decision–making process, decisions made and proposals. It includes formal high-level meetings where key decisions about our services are made and will not include any information of a confidential or personal nature.
- Our policies and procedures – current written policies, procedures and protocols, codes of practice, memoranda of understanding, standards of service and complaints procedure. Also included are our policies on equality and diversity, health and safety, information governance, records retention and data protection.
- Lists and registers – lists and registers which we are obliged to maintain by law as well as those lists we maintain in conducting our operations.
- The services we offer – advice and news about the services we provide, such as booklets, leaflets, and news releases.
Our publication scheme does not include information that we consider to be sensitive, such as certain types of commercial or personal information. We shall review our publication scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating.
Our publication scheme follows the Information Commissioner’s model for public authorities.
Please check our Publication Scheme and our Disclosure Log (which lists previous FOI responses) before lodging a Freedom of Information request, as they may well provide the information you require.
What can I do if I am dissatisfied with the response?
If you are unhappy with our response to a FOI or EIR request or the service you have received and you wish to make a complaint or request an internal review of any decision to withhold all or part of any information you have requested, please write to the following address, quoting the reference number of the request and specific details of your complaint along with any supporting information:
Email: wyicb-wak.
Postal Address:
Head of Governance
White Rose House
West Parade
Wakefield
WF1 1LT
Your complaint will be handled formally by a senior member of management not originally involved with your FOIA or EIR request. The process will give a fresh review of all aspects of the case as necessary.
We will then inform you of the outcome in writing. If the original decision is reversed, we will then handle your request.
If you are not content with the outcome of our internal review of a Freedom of Information Act or EIR request, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Both the Freedom of Information Act and the EIR are regulated and enforced by the ICO.
Please note that the ICO will not investigate your case unless it has been through our internal review procedure first.
Further information about how to make a complaint to the ICO can be found on their website
Make a complaint | ICO (opens in a new window).
You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office by post: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.