CHG865 - Dealing with complaints: Complaints including Freedom of Information and Subject Access requests

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

Customers may make requests for information within their complaint that fall under the scope of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 or the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

The FOIA gives people the right to see recorded non-personal information held by public authorities.

The UK GDPR gives individuals a right of access to personal information held about them and to know how it is processed.

If you identify a FOI request within a complaint you should contact the HMRC FOI Team without delay. The Freedom of Information SharePoint contains more information and contact details.

If a customer complains about the handling of an FOI this should be dealt with as an FOI internal review.

Subject Access requests (SAR)

A request for access to personal information is a SAR. If you identify a SAR within a complaint you should contact the SAR Team in the relevant business area. The Subject Access Requests SharePoint contains more information.

In either case, you should respond to the complaint as usual and tell the customer we are dealing with their request for information separately.

If a customer complains about the handling of their SAR this should be dealt with as a SAR internal review.