Ever been asked to provide Information that was not a 'business as usual ask'? Or had a question that you wanted to ignore or decline? Ever thought "we can't answer that - it's commercially sensitive or confidential?"

Anyone may ask for any recorded information from anywhere in the University and under the legislation the University must:

• proactively publish information
• respond to all Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) legislation requests within a legal deadline

Every year Freedom of Information at the University deals with 350+ requests, in liaison with information owners, departments, senior management and Comms. See our FOI compliance figures

Anyone who works at the University may be asked for information and the University has a legal obligation to provide it, unless FOI or EIR exemptions come into play. It's the law and has to be done!

If you do receive a non-routine request for information you should forward it immediately to freedom-of-information@bath.ac.uk

For advice, how to use FOI or EIR for research purposes or EIR and FOI themes talk to the Freedom of Information Officers: See our information on Dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests or What do they know and Understanding what information people commonly request from public authorities.

Information Commissioner advice:

• Know what you need to publish and make as much information publicly available as possible.
• Look at what people are asking you about and actively publish it.