Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) gives people the right to request information from the University. The Act aims to promote a culture of transparency and accountability amongst all public sector bodies, including the University, and therefore facilitate better public understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do, and how they spend public money.
As part of its role in managing Freedom of Information (FOI) for the University, IMPS has designed this website to enable all visitors, whether members of the university or members of the public, to access information easily and quickly.
As an 'open information provider', most University departments are used to receiving and responding to enquiries for information. In most cases, they will simply follow their usual practice of fulfilling requests directly, as information holders. This has the benefit of facilitating access to information with minimal administrative delay and cost.
The University has a publication scheme, as required by FOI, listing most of its published information.
Requests will usually only be formalised under the provisions of the FOI Act if the applicant chooses to apply in this way or if the University wishes to use the legal protections and exemptions which the Act provides. See how to request information if you want to make a formal FOI request. In general, requests for personal data will still be governed by the Data Protection Act (DPA).
Requests for environmental information are governed by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Some frequently asked questions are answered in the section FAQs. Advice to members of staff who are required to deal with requests for information is given in the FOI/EIR FAQs for Staff section.
Further information can be found:
Contact IMPS
- Email:
imps@reading.ac.uk - Telephone: +44 (0) 118 378 8981
Report an
Find out if you need to do a DPIA here: