Freedom of Information

Accessing and re-using information and subject access requests

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) provides public access to information held by public authorities, and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) provide public access to environmental information held by public authorities. You can only obtain information that would be given to anybody who asked for it, or is suitable for the general public to see.

The Regulations and the Freedom of Information Act do not give people access to their own personal data (information about themselves), such as their health records or credit reference files. Individuals have a right of access to information held about them under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 by making a subject access request.

Before you make a request

Is the information held by Eastleigh Borough Council?

Some services are provided by Hampshire County Council.

  • Social/children/adult services
  • Education Services
  • Highways/road maintenance/street lighting

If your request is about one of these services, please contact Hampshire County Council. If you are still unsure which council provides the service, contact us before making a request.

Please note that the our housing stock was transferred to Vivid Homes in 1996 and therefore we do not hold any information on this, however we do have information relating to our property assets.

Is the information you want already on the our website?

We may already publish the information you are looking for on our website and our Publication Scheme (which includes information provided under the Transparency Code 2015) provides a guide to the information that we publish regularly or intend to publish in the future.

Our Disclosure Log and frequently requested information pages give you access to information that we have previously provided in response to requests for information under the FOI or EIR acts.

Frequently requested

Business Rates

We receive a number of requests of a similar nature for information relating to Business Rates (last updated April 2024). To promote openness and transparency, we proactively publish information on a quarterly basis relating to:

  • accounts in credit
  • credits written on
  • full list of non-domestic properties within Eastleigh including, rateable value, current reliefs, empty property relief/exemption.
  • new account liabilities created.

A request for updated information in advance of when the next update is due will normally be refused under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the grounds that it is information that we hold with the intention of publishing at a specific date.

Planning enquiries

For planning enquiries please visit our Environmental Information Requests (EIR) page for advice on planning applications and documents.

If the information you require is not available by other means, you can make a request using the guidance below. When you make your request, we will decide if it is covered by FOI or EIR.

What can I request?

You can request to see information which is recorded, including:

  • information held on computers
  • information held in emails
  • printed or handwritten documents
  • images, video and audio recordings.

We do not have to answer your question if this would mean creating new information or giving an opinion or judgement that is not already recorded.

 Alternatively, you can make a request to the Freedom of Information Officer

To be valid, a request must

  1. Be in writing
  2. Include your name and an address for correspondence
  3. Describe the information being requested.

EIR requests can also be made verbally but a written request avoids any misunderstanding regarding what information you want.