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Do you wish to rid yourself of endless FOI requests for PHA funeral data? One solution is to make the funeral information available online. If you do this, your FOI responses can simply state that this information is being published shortly, saving you considerable time.

 

If you wish to publish this information via the PHA Funerals website you can do so, by simply completing the form here.

 

Local authorities may also have the right to refuse to disclose data or make some information available to the public.

The Information Commissioners Office guidance is that a local authority is not obliged to disclose information and that, in some cases, there will be a good reason why you should not make public some or all of the information requested. They state that you can refuse an entire request under the following circumstances:

  • It would cost too much or take too much staff time to deal with the request.
  • The request is vexatious.
  • The request repeats a previous request from the same person.

Some authorities will use the services of a genealogy company, which can save time and money. Others will eventually publish redacted details of cases on their websites or on this website and persons making FOI requests can be directed there.

More information on the ICO website can be found here.

If you already have an arrangement with a genealogist in place – Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 exempts business information from disclosure. This is because disclosure of this information would, or would likely, prejudice commercial interests. The information contained within emails is potentially commercially sensitive and its disclosure could prejudice a company’s ability to compete for services fairly; they are ‘trade secrets’, which could considerably reduce their competitive edge and impact commercial interests.

If a company has cases where research is still continuing, then releasing information about the deceased could cause competitors to contact beneficiaries on these cases and potentially interfere with their ability to successfully resolve their research.
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