FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – in force 1 Jan 2005 - SUMMARY
The Act is divided into 8 parts:
1.Access to information held by Public Authorities
2.Exempt information
3.General functions of the Secretary of State, Lord Chancellor and Information
Commissioner
4.Enforcement
5.Appeals
6.Historical records in public record office
7.Amendments to the Data Protection Act
8.Miscellaneous and supplemental
There are also 8 schedules to the Act and regulations
and codes of practice1 of which you need to be aware.
Right to Information:
The Act provides for the disclosure of information held by Public Authorities
or by persons providing services for them (note well!)
The act
confers two statutory rights on applicants, the duty to confirm or deny:
- To be
told in writing whether or not a public authority holds the information
they require and if so
- To have that information communicated to them not later than the twentieth
working day following the date of receipt of that request (for exceptions to
the latter – see
below*)
- Anyone can request information under the act regardless of age, nationality
or location.
To whom does the Act apply:
The Act applies to all Public Authorities within
the following categories –
- Central and Local Government
- The health sector
- The police and armed forces
- The education sector
- Other public bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
A full list of Public
Authorities is set out in the Act.
Making out a request:
An applicant must –
- Make a request in writing (including electronic means,
providing the request is legible and capable of being used for subsequent reference)
- State their name and an address for correspondence
- Describe the information requested
*If a Public Authority does not understand
the request, it should contact the Applicant to clarify what is wanted. The ‘20
working days’ will not
begin until the applicant has made clear the information that is required.
How
many requests can an applicant make?
The Act does not specifically limit the number
of requests an applicant can make but it can reserve the right to refuse
any vexatious or repeated requests. This may include repeated requests
from the same person for the same information or requests which are intended
to disrupt an authority’s work.
Time for compliance and fees
In some cases Public Authorities can within the
20 working days serve notice in writing on an Applicant that a fee is payable
for the information specifying the amount. Where such notice is given there is
no obligation to provide the information unless the fee is paid within three
months of the notice being given. On receipt of the fee the request must be fulfilled
within the 20 working day period.
If an exemption applies then the 20 working day period does not apply, the Public
Authority need only reply in such time as is reasonable in all the circumstances.
When
can a Public Authority charge a fee?
If the information requested is contained
in a Public Authority’s publication
scheme (see details below), the scheme should also give details of whether and
how much it will charge for providing the information.
If the information requested is not contained within the publication scheme,
the Public Authority may charge a fee, as laid down in the Freedom of Information
and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees Regulations) 2004.
A Public authority may charge a fee to supply information where the cost
of doing so exceeds an appropriate limit as set down in the regulations – appropriate
limit is set between £450 and £600 depending on the type of Public
Authority.
Personnel time is to be estimated at £25 per hour and for the purposes
of calculating the appropriate limit, account can be taken of such activities
as determining whether it has the information, locating it, extracting it etc.
However, the Public Authority will still be obliged to communicate to an applicant
that it holds such information. It must give notice to an applicant with reasons
if a refusal is to be made. An applicant can ask for information to be supplied
in:
- permanent form
- summary form
- or for permission to inspect records containing the information
An applicant
may request information in any format** – however, the cost
of supplying the information in a particular format may be taken into consideration
before complying with such a request.
**An applicant might request that information be supplied in Braille, audio format,
in larger type or another language for example.
Refusing a request
A request for information may only be refused by a Public
Authority if it falls under one of the specified exemptions below, some of which
are absolute and some of which will apply depending on the circumstances of a
particular case.
If a request is refused, the reply from the Public Authority must identify which
exemption it is applying. If it is considering refusal because of the circumstances
of a particular case, it must advise the applicant that a decision has not yet
been reached and give an estimate of the date by which it expects a decision
to have been reached.
A letter of refusal must give details of how the applicant can apply for an internal
review of the decision (and specify how an applicant can complain about the handling
of a matter). Internal review procedures should be put into place. If the refusal
still stands after an internal review, the applicant can appeal to the Information
Commissioner (The Data Protection Commissioner is now known as the Information
Commissioner) for a review of the decision.
For more details see:
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
Enforcement
‘Anyone who alters, defaces, blocks, erases, destroys or
conceals any record with the intent of preventing disclosure is guilty of an
offence and liable to a summary conviction not exceeding level 5 (approx £5,000)
on the standard scale’.
If the Commissioner concludes that a Public Authority has failed to communicate
adequate information he must send a decision notice specifying the steps that
must be taken and the timescale. Where a decision notice has been served the
applicant or Authority may appeal to the tribunal against the notice.
The Commissioner can also require a Public Authority to furnish him with further
information prior to deciding on a referral made by an applicant, by the serving
of an ‘Information Notice’, giving reasons for his request. If the
Commissioner is still not satisfied that the Public Authority complied with the
Act, an ‘Enforcement Notice’ will be served.
Public Authorities can also appeal against Information and Enforcement notices.
If there are no reasons for exemptions to the notice and the Public Authority
fails to comply with the notice, the Commissioner can certify this to the court,
who will proceed as it would for contempt proceedings.
Decisions to the Tribunal may be appealed on a point of law to the High Court.
Publication
Schemes
Public Authorities are required to produce, maintain and disclose in accordance
with a publication scheme.
A scheme should set out what kinds of information a Public Authority will proactively
make available without being asked and how it will do it. This information will
usually be made available on a website if they have one.
This should not be just a list of documents already published by the Authority,
but should be descriptive about ‘classes’ and ‘kinds’ of
information e.g. minutes, reports etc.
It can also charge a fee for providing the information, particularly if it did
so prior to the Act coming into force.
Information contained in this scheme should be requested in the normal way.
All
schemes have to be approved by the Information Commissioner.
Exempt Information
A number of exemptions apply to protect confidential information,
some of which are absolute and some of which depend on the circumstances and
on whether the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public
interest in disclosing it.
The relevant Section must be quoted in exemption refusal
cases.
Absolute exemptions are:
section 21 – information accessible by other means
Section 23 – information supplied by, or related to, bodies dealing with
security matters
Section 32 – Court records
Section 36 – prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs e.g. information
held by the House of Commons or Lords
Section 40 – Personal information e.g. data protection issues
Section 31 – information provided in confidence e.g. where there should
be an actionable breach
Section 44 – Prohibitions on disclosure e.g. contravenes another
act or statute
Section 22 – information needed for future publication
Section 24 – National security
Section 26 – Defence
Section 27 – International relations
Section 28 – Relations within the United Kingdom
Section 29 – The Economy
Section 20 – Investigations and proceedings conducted by Public Authorities
Section 31 - Law enforcement
Section 33 – Audit functions
Section 35 – Formulation of Government Policy
Section 37 – Communications with Her Majesty, other members of the Royal
Household, and the conferring by the Crown of any honour or dignity
Section 39 – Environmental information
Section 42 – Legal professional privilege
Section 43 – Commercial interests: e.g. of any person or the public authority
itself
Health and Safety – e.g. endangering the physical, mental health of an
individual or their safety.
How an Applicant can use the information received
The Act does not place any
restriction on how the information supplied under it may be used.
However, the Act does provide for exemptions for commercially sensitive information,
information intended for future publication or information related to investigations,
law enforcement and court records.
The Act does not transfer copyright in any information supplied under it.
1.Code of practice of openness in the NHS. DOH London 2003.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/02/99/74/04029974.pdf
Useful web sites
http://www.npfit.nhs.uk/foi/
http://www.bl.uk/about/policies/freedom.html
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