Official Information Requests

Council is obliged to process requests for information in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the Privacy Act 1993.

Generally, the Council will decide whether or not to grant an official information request within 20 working days of receipt by the Council

There are certain circumstances where the Council is entitled to refuse to release information requested.

Contact Numbers

Telephone:	(04) 570 6736
Fax:	((04) 570 6964
E-mail:	contact@huttcity.govt.nz

Official Information Fees & Charges 2010/11

The following charges shall apply for requests made under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (The ‘Act’):

(a)  If the request is made by an identifiable natural person seeking access to any personal information about that person then such requests are subject to the Privacy Act 1993 and these charges do not apply.

(b)  If the aggregate amount of staff time spent in actioning a request exceeds one hour then the basis of charging (except for the issue of Land Information Memoranda under section 44A of the Act) is as follows:

	From 1 July 2010	From 1 Oct 2010
An initial charge for the first chargeable half hour or part thereof including search, retrieval, provision of information and supervision	$30.00	$31.00
Each additional half hour or part thereof	$38.00	$39.00
(c) Photocopying on standard A4; where the total number of pages exceeds 20 (the first 20 pages will be free).	$0.20 per page	$0.20 per page

(d)  All other charges incurred shall be fixed at an amount that recovers the actual costs involved. This will include: 

• Producing a document by computer or other like equipment
• Reproducing a photograph, film, video or audio recording
• Arranging for the applicant to hear or view an audio or visual recording
• Providing a copy of any map, plan or other document larger than A4, retrieval of information off–site, or any situation in which a direct charge is incurred by the Council in providing the information
• Where repeated requests are made from the same source in respect of a common subject in any eight-week period, requests after the first will be aggregated for charging purposes

(e)  A charge may be modified or waived at the discretion of a General Manager or the General Counsel where payment might cause the applicant financial hardship, or where remission or reduction of the charge would facilitate good relations with the public, or assist the section, group or organisation in its work.

(f)  The charge may not include any allowance for:

• Information that is not where it ought to be
• Time spent deciding whether or not access should be allowed and in what form (note that the actual physical editing of protected information is chargeable)
  

(g)  Charges shall be paid in advance of receipt of information.