You can by law request any information held by Wirral Council, and the Council must provide it within 20 working days, unless (1) it is confidential information concerning an individual or (2) publication is not in the public interest. This release is governed by the Freedom of Information Act, and any request for information to the Council is governed by the Act - you do not need to mention the Act in your request.
The best way to make a request is via the website http://www.whatdotheyknow.com, using the page for Wirral Council (http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/wirral_borough_council). Your request can then be seen by everyone else (but your email address is not disclosed, and you do not need to give your real name). Also the response from Wirral Council will be published on the site, and so is any lack of response.
Wirral Council describes its policy in the document http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100004/200031/722/PublicationScheme.pdf .
If the Council withholds information, and you do not agree with this, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: the UK's independent authority set up to promote access to official information and to protect personal information: www.ico.gov.uk. The Information Commissioner has powers of enforcement.
Suggested wording
Please supply me with ###. Where you judge that parts of the document are exempt from publication, I request that you redact those parts and release the document in its entirety. In this case, could you also please explain the nature of the information removed and the reasons why it is exempt.
I would also like to request that any refusal to the above request be accompanied by a recommendation of how the request may be modified, so that it may be granted.
I would also like to request that any refusal to the above request be accompanied by a recommendation of how the request may be modified, so that it may be granted.