Hi HC
About FOI'S well here are a few pointers.
Who so we write to?
You will probably find on all council websites a generic FOI dept email address it is best to use this. You might want to use the wwwWhatdotheyknow.com website as this seems to get faster answers than individual requests.
What are we asking for?
Be very specific as asking in general terms can cause a council to answer that they dont know specifically what you are asking for and this will only delay any answer.
Is there a cost?
It is free with a big but. The act allows for a council to request for payment if you breach what they believe is the £450 barrier. So you have to be careful to make few requests that don't invovle alot of time of the council as they will amass your requests together as was done recently to our own Esinem.So dont place too many requests in a short period of time. To give you some idea I myself have only placed 13 FOI requests into Westminster City Council in over two and half years. Some of them have definitely involved alot of Westminster time but they are infrequent.
How long do we have to wait for the information?
20 working days then you can chase them up, if your question is particularly awkward and they dont want to answer you can threaten to take your complaint to the Information Commission (ICO). This usually sharpens them up but if they dont give you the info after 20 working days then ask for an internal review and if after a further 20 working days no joy then you can then go to the ICO website and lodge a complaint and they will force the council to give up the info.
What do we do with it once we've got it?
Bsically anything within reason as what you have is public information, ie information that is deemed to be allowed for public consumption.
Remember council websites already have a huge amount of info and you may find the answers to your questions there and it shouldn't take you 20 days to find it, with the obvious exception of Westminster City Council's website which was put together by a couple of trolls after a Saturday night drinking session.
Good luck.