The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

There are laws that give you the right to ask to see recorded information held by Havering Council.  The Information Commissioner’s Office have published some “Top Tips” for making information requests.  Their first tip is to “Search First” as you may find what you’re looking for by searching online.  If the information is already in the public domain, it may be quicker to find it than ask for it. 

Searching for information

The following resources could help you find the information you’re looking for.

  • Publication schemes, annual reports, policies and datasets published on public authorities’ websites. These kinds of documents explain who the organisation is, what they do, how they do it, and how they are performing. If you can’t easily find documents on their website, look for a sitemap, which may help.
  • WhatDoTheyKnow is a public register of over 1 million information requests, and responses from thousands of public authorities.
  • Advanced searches of a public authority’s website. For example:
    • Use Google’s advanced search dashboard or similar facilities on other search engines.
    • Add “site:” to your search query (eg “annual report site:ico.org.uk”). 
    • Search for a specific file type in your search query. In Google it’s “filetype:” (eg “ICO annual report filetype:pdf”).
  • Previous website versions. Viewing historic snapshots of an organisation’s website may help you retrieve information which is no longer current. You can search for previous website versions using:
  • National regulators or other bodies. These organisations are likely to publish information they collect about the bodies they oversee. For example:
  • Academic journals, reports or articles. These might require a subscription, but may also be available through a local library, employer, professional body or education institution.  
  • Civil society organisations, expert researchers and journalists. Expert organisations and individuals publish research and opinion, and share information on social media

Common Information Requests

We get many requests for information which is already available on our website or in other places online.  To save time, please have a look at the following links before sending your request in:

Doing business with Havering Council

Procurement, tender and other information

NNDR business rates liability data – find out who is paying business rates in Havering

Parking and Traffic Enforcement

Annual parking accounts

On street and car parking charges

Parking Enforcement and Appeals statistics Full parking enforcement and appeals statistics for each London Borough, including parking, bus lanes and moving traffic penalty charge notices

Penalty Charge Notice Appeal Outcomes London Tribunals website, includes information about penalty charge notices for parking, bus lanes and moving traffic, and the official register of appeal cases, including outcomes.  You can also submit an online appeal against a penalty charge notice.

School street scheme restriction maps

Other parking related information and policies

Housing

Local Authority Housing data returns   This collection shows annual local authority housing statistics (LAHS). The data is considered essential for central and local governments to have an understanding of its housing situation and how policies affect it.  Data can be filtered to show Havering returns only and includes information such as stock and stock conditions, transfers, allocations, sales, lettings, evictions, rent and rent arrears and affordable housing.

Workforce information

Annual statement of accounts

Pay Policy statement

Havering asset register

Other transparency code documents

Social care and Education
Children’s Social Care

Characteristics of children in need including data tables and comparator data

Statistics on children under local authority care at national and local authority level

Adult Social Care

Adult social care activity and finance report

Adult social care analytics hub – an interactive library of social care publications which drills down to Local Authority Level

Education

Education statistics by borough including early years, school information and pupil destination data

Submit a request

If you have not been able to find the information you are looking for, please visit the Havering website to find out how to submit an FOI request.