Freedom of information

The principal aims, and the statutory duties of the Trustees of the V&A under the National Heritage Act are to:

At a senior level, the Director of the V&A has responsibility for freedom of information at the museum. The Freedom of Information Officer takes day-to-day responsibility for compliance with the Act.

The Freedom of Information Act became law on 30 November 2000 with the intention of fostering a culture of openness in government and public bodies. The Act established a right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, and imposed obligations on public authorities to disclose information, subject to a range of exemptions. In common with other public bodies, the V&A implemented the Act with effect from January 2005.

Anyone may make a request for information, although the request must be in writing (letter or email). The Act gives applicants two related rights:

The museum must normally respond and provide the information which has been requested within 20 working days, unless access to that information is prohibited by one of the exemptions specified in the Act.

One of the aims of the Act is that all public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they make available. Section 19 of the Act requires each authority to adopt a publication scheme which sets out the classes of information the authority publishes, or intends to publish, and the manner in which they will be published. The V&A's first publication scheme came into effect on 30 November 2002.

From 1 January 2009, this scheme was superseded by a new model publication scheme, prepared by the Information Commissioner, and adopted by the V&A in line with most other public authorities.

With a few exceptions, the information which the V&A publishes, and which falls within the broad classes of information in the model publication scheme, is available online via the V&A's website. Most of these classes of information, such as 'Who we are and what we do' and 'What we spend and how we spend it' may be found on the About Us page. Details of 'The services we offer' may be found throughout the whole of the website.

Information in an electronic form can be downloaded from the V&A's website free of charge. However, requests for multiple printouts, copies of documents no longer available on the website, or for hard copy publications which are normally available for purchase only, may attract a charge.

Some minutes and papers of internal meetings at the V&A are published as reference copies which may be consulted in the National Art Library, but are not available online.

Information which is generated by the V&A and published on the website, in line with the model publication scheme, may be reproduced for information and personal study only.

Permission to reproduce information on the website does not extend to any material where the copyright is held by a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.

The publication scheme is only part of the provision for access to information available under the Act. Requests for information not included on the website should provide as much detail as possible to enable V&A staff to identify the information sought, and should be sent in writing to:

Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
South Kensington
London
SW7 2RL

Email: foi@vam.ac.uk

In general, the V&A is required to respond to requests within 20 working days. Some information held by the V&A, such as personal or commercially sensitive data, or information provided to the museum in confidence, may be exempt from disclosure under the terms of the Act. In some cases where information is exempt from disclosure, the V&A is nevertheless required to consider if there is any overriding public interest in disclosing the information in spite of the exemption. If the V&A is unable to disclose some or all of the information which an applicant has requested, the reasons for non-disclosure will be explained to the applicant.

The V&A will normally respond to requests for information free of charge. However, the museum may charge a fee, or refuse to answer the request where the staff time required to process it would be more than 18 hours. The cost of providing a significant number of photocopies will be charged for. Payment of fees and costs of photocopying must be received in advance. During the period that the V&A is waiting for payment of its invoice, the 20 day response deadline is suspended.

If you are dissatisfied with the response you have had from the V&A in respect of a request for information, you may invoke the complaints procedure. The first step is to seek an internal review of the museum's handling of your request. Applications for internal review should be submitted in writing to:

Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
South Kensington
London
SW7 2RL

Email: foi@vam.ac.uk

The handling of the request will be reviewed internally by a senior member of staff who was not involved in the initial response. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome or the conduct of the internal review, you may seek an independent review from the Information Commissioner's Office.