Making a request

Please read the information on this page and then contact our FOI team by:

• Emailing FOI.Team@ons.gov.uk

Or contact us by post at:

• FOI Team
  Legal Services
  Room 4300E
  Office for National Statistics
  Segensworth Road
  Titchfield
  Fareham
  Hampshire
  PO15 5RR

If you have any questions about submitting FOI requests, please contact our Shared Customer Contact Centre on the following number:

• Telephone: 0345 601 3034

Before you request information

Before requesting you should:

• search our website for the information
• check our publication scheme where we publish more information
• check our list of previous FOI requests to see if the information is there

Making your request

When sending us a request you should:

• be specific about the information you want, providing a time frame if you can
• let us know how you’d like to receive the information (by post, email, or in person)
• provide contact details in case we need to discuss the request with you

We will reply in 20 working days of receiving your request. If your request is for information that falls within one of the Act’s exemptions we will tell you which one and in most cases why the information can’t be given.

Review of the 30-year rule

Under the Public Records Act 1958, government departments are required to identify records worthy of permanent preservation and transfer them to The National Archives (TNA). In January 2013, the mandated time period for transfer will begin to reduce from 30 years to 20 years. Government departments and other public bodies will start transferring and releasing (subject to sensitivity considerations) an additional year’s worth of records every year for 10 years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is committed to meeting the requirements of this change in legislation and has plans in place to do so.

TNA has set up an ongoing reporting mechanism, the Record Transfer Report, to enable them to monitor departments' progress with the transition and compliance with the change. This will be reported annually to the Lord Chancellor.

The June 2016 Record Transfer Report for ONS has been completed by the Records Management team in conjunction with their Information Management Consultant at TNA.

Some examples of ONS (or its predecessor departments) records selected by TNA in previous years include:

• FV 63 - Ministry of Technology relating to various utility and transport strikes in the 1970s

• BT 70 - Board of Trade files relating to balance of payments and various trading topics for the UK

• LAB 17 - Studies relating to various aspects of employment.