How to Appeal an FOI Refusal from Durham County Council

An FOI refusal does not have to be the end of the road. If Durham County Council has turned down your request, you still have a clear path forward, and most of it depends on how well you respond.

A strong FOI refusal appeal is usually calm, specific, and short. That matters, because the council is far more likely to rethink a decision when you point to the exact problem, rather than fire off a vague complaint.

Start with the refusal notice, not your frustration

Before you write back, read the refusal carefully. Durham County Council says requests need to be precise, and it can refuse them if they are too broad or too expensive to deal with. Its FOI requests guidance also says it will reply within 20 working days and give advice and assistance where needed.

You should also check the council’s FOI and EIR page. Some of the information you want may already be in the publication scheme or disclosure log, which means you may not need to fight for it at all.

A refusal usually falls into one of a few simple buckets.

Refusal reason	What it usually means	Best next step
Too broad or too costly	The request covers too much ground	Narrow the date range, subject, or document type
Exemption applied	The council says the law allows it to withhold the information	Ask which exemption was used and whether partial release is possible
No information held	The council says it does not have the records	Ask what searches were done and who checked
Request needs more detail	The council cannot find the records from the wording	Rephrase the request with named files, teams, or dates

The point of the table is simple. Do not treat every refusal as final. First, work out whether the problem is scope, wording, or a legal exemption.

Ask for an internal review that is easy to act on

The first formal step is an internal review. That means you are asking Durham County Council to look at its own decision again. It is not a new request, and it should focus on the refusal you already received.

Keep the message short. State that you want an internal review, quote the date of your original request, and say why you think the refusal was wrong. If the council has only released part of what you asked for, say which missing part you still want and why.

An internal review is not a fresh battle. It is your chance to show, clearly and calmly, where the decision went wrong.

A useful review request usually includes:

• the date of your original FOI request
• the council reference number, if you have one
• the reason you disagree with the refusal
• a request for partial disclosure, if full release is not possible
• a reminder that you want the review within 20 working days

You do not need a long speech. In fact, long letters often weaken the point. A clean, focused message is easier for the council to answer.

If the refusal came with a weak explanation, ask for the exact legal basis. If it says the information is exempt, ask whether the council considered releasing redacted copies. That matters because a refusal is not always an all-or-nothing answer.

Make your request sharper before you try again

Sometimes the best FOI refusal appeal is not an argument at all. It is a better request.

If your original wording was broad, split it into parts. Ask for one topic, one date range, or one named report. Councils are much more likely to answer a request for specific records than a sweeping demand for everything in a folder.

For example, if you are looking into highways spending, start with guidance on council road repair budgets. That approach works better when you ask for named datasets such as work orders, inspection results, or invoice totals. It is far easier for an officer to find those records than to guess what “all spending information” means.

The same logic applies to decisions and reports. If you need information before a committee meeting, tracking the council forward plan can help you spot the right papers, the lead officer, and the background documents. That often saves you from filing a wide request in the first place.

A tighter request can also help when the council says it would take too long to answer. If you ask for one committee paper instead of six months of correspondence, you lower the chance of another refusal.

Take the case to the ICO if the council still says no

If the internal review does not fix the problem, the next stop is the Information Commissioner’s Office. The ICO is the right place to complain about an FOI refusal once the council has had a fair chance to review its own decision.

Use the ICO’s FOI complaints page to send the complaint. Realtime guidance from the ICO says you should try to complain within three months of the last meaningful contact with the public authority, so do not leave it hanging.

When you complain, send copies of:

• your original FOI request
• the council’s refusal
• your internal review request
• the review outcome
• any other emails or letters that matter

If you are sending the complaint on someone else’s behalf, include their consent. That saves time and avoids a second round of questions.

The ICO will look at whether the council handled the request properly. It is not your solicitor, and it will not argue the whole case for you. Even so, it can decide that the council got it wrong, and that can change the outcome.

If the ICO still does not resolve the issue, there may be a further route to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights). Most people never get that far, but it exists for cases that still need a final decision.

Common mistakes that weaken an FOI appeal

A lot of refusals become harder to challenge because the request itself gives the council too much room to push back. That is frustrating, but it also means small changes can make a big difference.

Avoid these mistakes:

• writing an angry reply that does not ask for a review
• widening the request while trying to challenge the refusal
• forgetting to mention the original date and reference number
• ignoring the council’s explanation and repeating the same broad wording
• asking for everything when a named document would do

The best appeals stay grounded in the facts. If the council says the request is too broad, show that you have narrowed it. If it says no information is held, ask what searches were carried out. If it has used an exemption, ask whether it considered partial disclosure.

That approach feels slower, but it usually works better. Councils respond more seriously to requests that look measured and informed.

Conclusion

A good FOI refusal appeal starts with clarity. Read the refusal, ask for an internal review, and tighten the wording if the council says your request is too wide. If the answer still does not make sense, take it to the ICO with the right papers in order.

That process matters because public bodies should answer to local people in plain English. If you want more honesty, more accountability, and better local government, Join Reform UK, Vote Reform UK, and help Make Britain Great Again.