Freedom of Information

  1. About
  2. Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives a member of the public the right of access to information held by public authorities. All information we hold is eligible for release although we will consider whether any exemptions apply.

Further information about the Freedom of Information Act 2000, including who the Act applies to, what information you can ask for, how you can request it and how your requests will be dealt with, can be found on the Information Commissioner's website.

Requests for information relating to the state of the environment are handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). Any information that falls under EIR will be released unless an exception applies.

To request information under these regulations you should follow the same process as for Freedom of Information requests. More information regarding the Environmental Information regulations can be found on the Information Commissioner's website.

How to request information from us

Much of the information we hold is already available to you. Before you make an official request you should:

  • search our website for the information
  • check The National Lottery Community Fund's publication scheme.

If you would like to request information about The National Lottery Community Fund, please email freedomofinformation@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Your request must state your full name and it is helpful if you can give us as much detail as you can about the information that you are looking for. If you aren't sure what information we hold on a particular topic then we will be happy to offer you further advice and assistance. We will acknowledge your request and must reply in full within 20 working days.

If you have requested information that relates to a third party we may need to consult with such parties in order to reach a view on whether the information can be released. When consulting with third parties the identity of the requestor will remain confidential and will not be disclosed.

For customers who have applied or received funding from us

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives members of the public the right to request any information that we hold. This includes information received from third parties, such as, although not limited to grant applicants, grant holders and contractors.

If you think that there is information in your application that may be exempt from release if requested, then you should let us know when you apply. We will not usually release information about your project whilst it is in the assessment process. Otherwise we will use our judgement as to whether any exemptions will apply to information that has been requested, which we may seek your opinion on. Personal information would be withheld subject to the requirements of data protection legislation.

Although you may be considered as a customer, you still have the same rights of access to information as a general member of the public.

The Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act requires us to produce a Publication Scheme. By ‘publication' we mean information that is available to the public in a variety of formats, for example, reports on paper or web pages.

The publication scheme is a document that describes the information we routinely publish, where you can find it, and whether we charge for it. It is not a list of our publications: it describes the kinds of information we publish.

Our publications are available, on request, in Braille, large print, audio-tape and community languages.

Transparency project

We are making some information that you might be interested in available proactively:

Non-grant payments over £500