Your Council - Make a Freedom of Information request

• The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) gives you the right to request access to information we hold.
• To find out how we comply with the Act see our Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations Policy
• There are exemptions to the Act which allow certain information not to be disclosed to you, such as personal data, commercially sensitive information or information provided in confidence to us for example. For further information see the Act and our Policy above.
• There may be a cost associated with this service depending upon the requirements of your request. If so, we will inform you of this before any information is provided and advise you.
• City of Lincoln Council does not provide schooling/education services, child/adult social services or highways information such as streetlighting/roads/potholes services. Any FOI requests concerning these matters should be directed please to Lincolnshire County Council

Using AI to help draft information requests?

AI tools can be helpful, but they can also introduce errors or create overly complex requests that increase the burden on public bodies and cost to the taxpayer.

When using AI to help draft an information request, please make sure the final wording has been checked and reflects your actual information needs.

Before you submit a request or secondary correspondence, please check that:

You are only asking for the information you are genuinely looking for.

AI tools sometimes generate broad or excessive wording that goes beyond the information you actually want or need;

The request is clear, concise and focused.

Short, straightforward requests are easier for us to process and usually lead to quicker, more accurate responses;

There are no obvious factual inaccuracies.

AI can misrepresent legislation or misstate what organisations do. Please review the text of your request carefully and don’t assume AI is right. If it has referred to something you don’t understand, check what it is; and

The tone is appropriate.

AI-generated content can sometimes sound abrupt, or otherwise inappropriate. Please check the tone before sending.

Why does this matter?

We are seeing an increase in requests and secondary correspondence that appear to have been drafted by generative AI. These can require additional clarification because of inaccuracies or unnecessary complexity. This creates delays for both requesters and our teams.

Need guidance?

You can find advice on making effective information requests on the Information Commissioner’s Office website

The above advice on Using AI for information requests comes from the Information Commissioner’s Office, the regulator for FOIA and EIR in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Before you start

Please check the information you require is not already available, such as published on the Council’s Planning portal, Contracts register or in our Expenditure lists in Data Transparency and Open Data. For links to this information please see our Publication Scheme

To use this service you will need:

• Full details of your request and the information you require
• How you would like to receive our response
• Your name and address

Start your request