SAR and FOI email templates

Last reviewed 15 February 2026.

Subject template

Subject Access Request

Sent to the council's data protection officer. Gets you your file — case notes, chronologies, assessments, emails about you.

From: [Your full name]
[Your address]
Date of birth: [Your date of birth, dd/mm/yyyy]

To: The Data Protection Officer
[Local authority name]

Date: 25 September 2026

Dear Data Protection Officer,

Subject Access Request under Article 15 UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018

I am writing to make a subject access request for all personal data you hold about me.

Please treat this as a formal subject access request. I confirm my identity as the person named above.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am requesting all personal data held across every part of the authority, including — but not limited to — Children's Social Care, Legal Services, Complaints, Information Governance, the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), any Independent Reviewing Officer records, and any records held by contracted providers on your behalf.

The material I am asking to see specifically includes:
  • case notes, chronologies and running records;
  • all assessments (initial, section 47, single, parenting, viability, and any expert reports commissioned);
  • minutes of strategy discussions, child protection conferences, core group meetings, LAC reviews and any panel meetings;
  • internal and external emails and instant messages that concern me;
  • records of telephone calls and file notes;
  • any legal correspondence which is not properly the subject of legal professional privilege on a document-by-document basis;
  • the referral itself and any referral information sent by third parties.

I would like the information provided electronically, in a commonly used format.

If you rely on any exemption to withhold material, please state, for each item withheld: the specific exemption relied on, the document to which it is applied, and the reasoning. Please do not redact whole documents where only part is subject to an exemption. Please do not withhold professional information given by staff acting in a working capacity as third-party personal data.

I understand you have one calendar month to respond, and that any extension of up to two further months must be notified to me within that first month, with reasons.

Yours faithfully,

[Your full name]

Freedom template

Freedom of Information Request

Sent to the FOI / information governance team. Gets you the system: thresholds, policies, panel terms, spend, contracts.

From: [Your full name]
To: Freedom of Information / Information Governance Team
[Local authority name]

Date: 25 September 2026

Dear Information Rights Team,

Freedom of Information Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to make a request for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. To be clear, this is not a subject access request; I am asking about non-personal, recorded information held by the authority.

Please provide me with copies of the following, if held:

  • the local authority's written thresholds for opening section 47 enquiries;
  • the local authority's policy on pre-proceedings (Public Law Outline) meetings;
  • the terms of reference of any legal or resource panel that decides whether to issue care proceedings;
  • any protocol or memorandum of understanding with the local police force in relation to strategy discussions;
  • training materials issued to social workers in the last three years on working with parents and on record-keeping;
  • the contracts and total spend, over the last three financial years, with any independent social work providers and independent psychologists commissioned by the authority.

Where any of the above is available on your website, a link is sufficient. Where information is withheld, please identify the specific statutory exemption relied on for each item, and — where the exemption is qualified — set out your public interest reasoning.

I understand you have twenty working days to respond. If you consider that any part of my request is not valid under the Act (for example, because you regard it as personal data engaging Section 40), please tell me and treat that part as, in the alternative, a separate subject access request.

Yours faithfully,

[Your full name]

Deadline tracker

So nothing slips.

Enter the date you sent each request. We work out the legal deadline, remember it in this browser, and show you a countdown whenever you come back. For a nudge that reaches you even when this page is closed, add the deadline to your phone or computer calendar — it will remind you the day before and on the day.

Subject Access Request

1 calendar month to respond

Date you sent it

Freedom of Information Request

20 working days to respond

Date you sent it

Working days are Monday to Friday. Bank holidays do not count as working days — if one falls inside the window, allow an extra day. Saved only in this browser, never sent anywhere.

A word before you press send

Two things worth checking

Are you in live proceedings? If yes, tell your solicitor before sending a SAR — legal aid covers advice on the timing, and specific-disclosure applications through the court are often faster.
Read what you get carefully. If a whole page is blacked out because one line mentions someone else, or if you cannot see any of the professionals’ own writing, that is likely over-redaction. Our full guide explains how to push back.

Two emails you can send today.

Subject Access Request

Freedom of Information Request

So nothing slips.

Two things worth checking