Open Files, Closed Questions: An FOI and EIR Handbook for Heathrow’s Neighbours

The case for a third runway is built twice. First it is assembled in submissions, spreadsheets, consultant reports and ministerial correspondence. Only later does it appear on a map. For communities around Heathrow, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 are not procedural curiosities. They are a civic audit tool: a way to read the case before the tarmac is fixed.

This guide is written for residents’ associations, parish councils, climate groups and the neighbours who simply want to know what is being proposed in their name. It is not a substitute for legal advice. It is a practical starting point for 2026, when the public record around Heathrow expansion should be opened, tested and shared.

Begin with the public bodies

The most reliable requests go to public authorities: the Department for Transport, the local planning authorities around the airport, and the public bodies that hold Heathrow-related evidence. Hillingdon, Slough, Spelthorne, Windsor and Maidenhead and Buckinghamshire councils all hold planning, transport, environmental and regeneration material. The Department for Transport holds policy advice, ministerial submissions and the economic case-making that surrounds any expansion decision.

Heathrow Airport Ltd is a private company, not a conventional FOI authority. Direct requests to the company can still be worth making where environmental information is concerned, but they may be refused on the ground that it is not a public authority for the purpose. The stronger route is often indirect: ask the council or the Department for Transport for the company’s submissions, correspondence, planning statements and environmental reports that those bodies already hold. Where a public authority is procuring, funding or consenting, it should be accountable for the paper it receives.

Ask for a shelf before asking for a folder

A common mistake is to request “all documents relating to Heathrow expansion”. That invites refusal on cost grounds and gives the authority an easy reason to delay. Start with a list. Ask for a register of documents, a file plan, or the titles and dates of reports sent between named teams over a defined period. Once you know what exists, you can request the most important items in a tighter second round.

Be specific about the public body, the directorate, the date range and the type of record. “Correspondence between the Department for Transport’s aviation directorate and Heathrow Airport Ltd about surface access capacity between January and June 2026” is a request. “Everything about the third runway” is a fishing expedition.

What to ask for

The strongest requests tend to target the places where a project’s assumptions are made and its risks are recorded. Useful categories include:

• ministerial submissions, advice and decision letters on Heathrow expansion;
• business case assumptions, demand forecasts and sensitivity analyses;
• consultant reports on noise, air quality, carbon, surface access and economic impact;
• minutes and papers of official steering groups and programme boards;
• risk registers and contingency plans;
• land assembly, acquisition and compensation strategies;
• community engagement reports and responses to consultation;
• correspondence with airlines, investors and local councils;
• the existence and scope of legal advice, even where the advice itself may be withheld.

Environmental information deserves particular attention. Under the Environmental Information Regulations, there is a presumption in favour of disclosure, and the regime has no fixed cost ceiling equivalent to the FOI appropriate limit. Requests for noise modelling, air quality monitoring, biodiversity surveys, flood risk assessments and carbon accounting should be framed as environmental information from the outset.

Framing requests to survive the cost limit

FOI requests to central government can be refused if complying would exceed the appropriate limit, currently £600 for central government and £450 for local authorities. That is a real constraint, but it is not a wall. Break large requests into smaller ones. Offer to prioritise. Ask for the most recent six months first. Accept summaries or indexes where full documents would be too costly. Suggest that information be provided in electronic form. A well-drafted request shows the authority how to comply rather than giving it a reason to refuse.

It also helps to explain the public interest briefly and factually. You do not need to write an essay. A sentence noting that the information concerns public expenditure, environmental risk or the use of statutory powers is usually enough.

Commercial confidentiality and the public interest

Authorities often reach for commercial confidentiality. Under FOI, section 43 can apply to trade secrets and information whose disclosure would prejudice commercial interests. Under the EIR, regulation 12(5)(e) can protect confidential commercial or industrial information where that confidentiality is protected by law. These are not blanket exemptions. They require a public interest test, and the public interest in understanding a publicly significant infrastructure project is substantial.

When a refusal arrives, ask for a redacted version. Ask for the heads of terms rather than the full contract. Ask which specific prejudice would follow from disclosure, and to whom. Ask whether the information is already in the public domain in another form. Ask for the confidentiality clauses and the severance terms. If the authority claims that disclosure would undermine commercial negotiations, ask for the date on which that prejudice is expected to end. A refusal that cannot explain the harm is a refusal worth challenging.

Personal data must be handled carefully. You are not seeking private information about individuals. You are seeking the public record of decisions, payments and risks. Where names appear, accept redaction if the substance survives.

Deadlines, reviews and escalation

FOI authorities should respond within 20 working days. Environmental information requests normally follow the same 20-working-day timetable, but can be extended to 40 working days where the request is complex and voluminous. If the deadline passes, write a short reminder. If the response is late, incomplete or refuses without explanation, ask for an internal review. Keep a chronology: date sent, acknowledgement, response, review request, review outcome.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the regulator. Complaints to the ICO should be factual and concise: what you asked for, when, what you received, and why you believe the handling was wrong. The ICO is not a campaign organisation, but it does keep authorities honest when the paperwork is clear.

From replies to shared evidence

The value of a request is multiplied when it is shared. Keep a simple public register: request number, authority, date, subject, status, exemption claimed and a one-line summary. Publish redacted documents where lawful. Write short evidence briefs of no more than two pages: what was asked, what was disclosed, what it shows and what question it raises. Build a quote bank with exact references and page numbers. Maintain a timeline that separates confirmed fact from inference.

Above all, coordinate. A cluster of narrow, well-aimed requests from different groups is more effective than a hundred broad ones. The paper trail before the tarmac is long, but it is not unreadable. With discipline, patience and a shared register, Heathrow’s neighbours can make the case legible before it becomes irreversible.