What charges will be made for information?
The EIR fee guidelines have been aligned to the FOI fees regime wherever possible. Under the terms of the Directive, the EIRs require that: • information made available for inspection, and explaining where information is made publicly available, should be free of charge. • any charges be ‘reasonable’ Defra guidance suggests that requests should be free up to the same appropriate limit as FOI requests – £600 for central government, £450 for local government. Above that limit, charges for EIRs will need to meet the EU requirement of reasonability. Free requests should include: • information made available for inspection • explaining where information is made publicly available • oral queries answered on the spot, e.g. when waste is collected • many requests dealt with by local authorities, such as planning queries Public Authorities may of course charge for disbursements such as photocopying and postage., but if an applicant comes to inspect information in situ where it is made available
