Re-using information we hold

The re-use of Public Sector Information Directive 2015 allows people to apply to re-use information held by the Council.

Re-use means allowing public information to be used for a purpose other than the purpose for which the document was originally produced. This includes using the information for commercial purposes.

Please be aware that South Tyneside Council is not obliged to release public sector information.

Any request made to the Council for release and re-use will be considered on its own merits.

Where information is released by the Council, its re-use will be subject to the terms and conditions of a Council licence which is a requirement under the regulations.

Types of public information that can be re-used

Types of public information that can be re-used include:

• National and local legislation
• Statistics/surveys
• Local planning
• Tourist information
• Guidance on local community issues and policies etc
• Public leaflets/publications

Re-use of public information policy

View the re-use of public information policy.

Copyright

All information supplied by South Tyneside Council continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Requesters are free to use public information for their own purposes, including any non-commercial research or news reporting they doing.

Any other re-use of public information, for example commercial publication requires the permission of the Council as the Copyright holder.

Disclaimer

South Tyneside Council is not liable for any loss or liability associated with the re-use of information.

While every care has been taken in the compilation of the information on this website, no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of the council for any errors, omissions or misleading statements on these pages or any site to which these pages connect.

South Tyneside Council does not authorise any user to have exclusive rights to re-use of its information.

South Tyneside Council does not maintain many of the sites provided as links and so assumes no responsibility for the contents; nor do such links constitute any endorsement of any other site, its sponsor or its contents.

Any organisation or person can submit a re-use information request.

A valid request must:

• Be in writing (email / letter)
• State your name and contact details
• Be precise and clearly specify the documents you want to re-use
• State the puprose for re-using the information

Requests can be sent to:

Information Governance Team
Westoe Road
Town Hall
South Shields
Tyne and Wear
NE33 2RL

Phone: 0191 424 6539
Email: foi@southtyneside.gov.uk

Requesting information to be in a particular format

You can request information to be in a particular format, but this must be stipulated in your request and may incur an additional charge.

The Council must respond to all request within 20 working days, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If we require more information we will contact you.

If a request is received outside of normal working hours it will be treated as being received the next working day.

There are certain regulations that prevent re-use, where the:

• content is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
• documents falls outside of the Council's statutory functions.
• document contains information in which intellectual property rights are owned by a third party. An example of this would be architectural drawings which have been commissioned by an architect who retains the copyright.
• document does not exist.
• document is held either by either Public Service Broadcasters (including the BBC), educational and research establishments or by cultural establishments such as libraries and museums.

In order to allow the Council to conduct its business in an appropriate manner it will sometimes be necessary to exempt information from release or re-use.

Key exemptions may include information that relates to:

• Government meetings
• Law enforcement and security procedures
• Confidential and commercially sensitive information
• Personal information (for e.g. third party information)

The Regulations do not effect your rights under the Data Protection Acts 1998.

The Regulations do not permit the release of information in a manner that is not allowed by law or involves legal advice.

If your request is refused, you will be told:

• the reason for the refusal
• your rights to an internal review and appeal
• the time limits of reviews and appeals

Where refusal is due to intellectual property rights being owned by a third party, we will confirm, if we know:

• who owns the intellectual property rights and
• provide you with their names and contact details

You are unable to re-use the information in any way you choose.

The Council can impose conditions on re-use.

These conditions will not necessarily restrict the way in which a document can be reused or restrict competition.

If someone else wants to re-use the information

We cannot discriminate between two applicants who request the same information, nor can we grant you exclusive rights for re-use of the document unless the arrangement is in the public interest.

If exclusive rights are granted, the document will be reviewed on a 3 year basis and details of the exclusive rights may be published on this website.

We may make a charge but we will advise you on receipt of your request.

If charges are applied these will be to cover:

• The re-use of information for commercial use
• The costs of collecting, producing and supplying the material
• The cost of the demand on the document(s) over the next three years

Any requests considered unreasonable will be refused.

You can ask for an internal review to be carried out.

This request must be made in writing and received within 40 days of you receiving your decision notice.

If you're still unhappy after the internal review, you can write to the Office of Public Sector Information to have your case reviewed at:

OPSI Standards Team
Room 1.35
Admiralty Arch
North Side
The Mail
London
SW1A 2WH

Phone: 020 7276 5217
Fax: 020 7276 5207

Or by accessing the OPSI website and completing an online form at:

OPSI: Contact us

Appeals to the OPSI must be lodged within 6 months following an internal review.

If you're not satisfied with how the OPSI has dealt with your appeal

You can complain to the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information ( APPSI).

Your appeal must:

• Be in writing
• State the nature of your appeal
• Include copies of decision notices from the council and OPSI

Appeals to the APPSI must be lodged 28 days from your date of notification from OPSI.

You will need to contact:

Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
1.35 Admiralty Arch
The Mall
London
SW1A 2WH
Phone: 020 7276 5216
Fax: 020 7276 5207