Freedom of Information

Complaints

Complaints

What to do if you are unhappy with our response.

If you are unhappy about the way we have handled your request for information, or if you want us to review our decision not to release information to you, you should submit your request for review to the University’s appointed reviewer:

Information Governance Officer
Executive Office
Newcastle University
King's Gate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU

E-mail: rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk

You must include:

  • your name and address for correspondence
  • reasons for your dissatisfaction with our response to your request
  • information that would help us to identify your request from our records (date the request was sent to us; a copy of the request and our response; any reference number you may have been given)

The request for review should be submitted within 40 working days of the date on which you received our response to your request for information. We may, at our discretion, consider requests for review that are received beyond this timescale but we are not obliged to do so.

How we'll handle your request for review

We'll acknowledge receipt of your request for review within 3 working days.

The University’s appointed reviewer will review the relevant documentation, and consider whether or not our initial response to your request was correct. If the appointed reviewer was involved in responding to your original request for information, then another senior officer of the University will be appointed to take responsibility for carrying out the review.

The reviewer may contact you to seek clarification on your original request or your grounds for review. The reviewer will also invite the FOI Officer to comment on the original decision that was reached.

We will normally reply to you in writing, within 20 working days of receiving your request, to inform you of the outcome of the review. The review may conclude that the original response was correct, or the reviewer may decide to alter the original decision and order the disclosure of some, or all, of the information you have requested. Our review response will explain the reasons for the decision.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our internal review, you can then contact the Information Commissioner's Office. Details of how to do so, and how they will handle your complaint, can be found on the ICO website.