gimlet,
Not fully wrong either since HighlandFP excluded the FOIA and I was trying to suggest he use it. The policy I use these days is always to ask for the information using FOIA or DPA as it makes it easier for disclosure to take place in a structured way and allows a complaint to the Information Commissioner to proceed more efficaciously if you dotted your 'i's and crossed your 't's.
HighlandFP, It is unlikely that a Brit with the surname Sherriff is related by name to the Sharif of Mecca; more likely her ancestor was indeed a Sherriff or someone who behaved like one or looked like the local one (some surnames are a joke and are adopted nicknames).
The local authorities do set financial limits on obtaining information and will only complete expensive research if you pay yourself. The easiest option for public bodies is to link everything to websites and just provide links. If people protest they don't have a computer they can be directed to local libraries that normally give a certain amount of free or subsidised access.
In fact we are then led to 'information overload' as there is now more information in the public domain than any one of us can actually read and so it is getting harder to find the real gems of information.
__________________
When in Woking do as the Wokes do.
"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008
|