information-request-handling

# Handling an information request A request for recorded information is a statutory process from the day it arrives, whatever it is called and whichever inbox it lands in. ## Recognise one Any written request for recorded information. It does not need to name the legislation, and it counts if it arrives in a complaint or a social media message. ## Log immediately Date received · requester and contact route · what is asked for, verbatim · whether it is for their own personal data or for recorded information generally — because the regimes and the clocks differ. ## Clarify narrowly Only where genuinely unclear, and in one message listing every ambiguity. Serial clarification requests read as obstruction and the clock does not always stop. ## Route for decision Exemptions, redaction, cost limits and public-interest tests are decided by the information officer. Assemble the material and the timeline; decide nothing. ## Never Refuse, apply an exemption, release without review, or let the request sit because it looks unreasonable.