In more detail
Anyone can make a freedom of information request of any public authority in England . About 120,000 requests are made each year – mostly by private citizens and community groups; but the law is also used extensively by businesses, charities and journalists and media organisations.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is based on the principle that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities unless there is a good reason for them not to. The law gives the public access to information held by public authorities through:
- the publication of certain information by authorities
- information requests made by members of the public.
The Act applies to any ‘recorded information’ (in the form of documents, computer files, letters, emails, video and sound recordings and photographs, diagrams and maps etc) that is held by a public authority in England. That includes: government departments, local councils, the NHS, state schools and the police. The Act does not necessarily apply to every publicly-funded organisation that receives public money. Most organisations which receive grants from public bodies and businesses which do work on contract for public services are not subject to freedom of information (although they may have requirements to make information publicly available written into their grant agreements and contracts).
Principles
Public authorities have a duty to provide information, unless they can show there is a good reason not to, regardless of who you are (you don’t have to be a British citizen, have any special qualifications or be a taxpayer) or what you want it for. You do not have to say why you want the information when you ask for it. An authority must consider your request impersonally – that means they can’t turn your request down because of who you are; but they also can’t accept your request because of who you are or why you want the information.
Notes and Limitations
The law sets out a legal minimum. Authorities may disclose more information as they see fit. Which means, for example, that you might get two different responses to the same request to two different local councils.
The law is designed to provide openness about the work of the public sector, not the private sector. GPs and other health practitioners, for example, only have to give information about their NHS work.
Where local councils transfer responsibility for services to a company which is owned by the council (like an Arms Length Management Company in social housing), the company is subject to the terms of the law as if it was still part of the council.
MPs and councillors are not public authorities and are not covered by the act. Neither they, nor the public authorities who may store some of their recorded information (in email accounts etc) have to provide information that belongs to them. Authorities do not have to supply information they store on behalf of other individuals (like personnel records) or organisations (eg the files of a voluntary organisation which are held on the council server).
The law covers all documents held by a public authority. That includes, for example letters and emails sent to it and its officers by other members of the public – although the council might say there was a good reason for not releasing these. Information that is in the heads of officers is not recorded and so is not covered. Where the information is stored does not affect whether it is covered.
Public Interest and Exemptions
In general, an authority must consider whether releasing information under the Act is in the public interest and may withhold the information is it decides it is not. This is the ‘public interest test’ Certain types of information are exempted, however. There are 8 absolute exemptions, regardless of public interest:
- Information that is accessible by other means
- Information relating to or dealing with security matters
- Information contained in court records
- Where disclosure of the information would infringe parliamentary privilege
- Information held by the House of Commons or the House of Lords, where disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs
- Information which the applicant could either obtain under the Data Protection Act (see below) or where release would breach data protection principles
- Information provided in confidence
- When disclosing the information is prohibited by an enactment; incompatible with an EU obligation; or would commit a contempt of court.
Information may also be exempted, subject to a public interest test, if it:
- Is intended for future publication
- Does not deal with security matters but is a matter of national security
- Relates to current investigations and proceedings being undertaken by a public authority
- Relates to the formation of government policy etc
- Has to do with communications with members of the Royal family, and conferring honours
- Would affect disclosure of environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations
- Is information covered by professional legal privilege
- Constitutes trade secrets
Or would be likely to prejudice defence; international and diplomatic relations; the economic interests of the country; law enforcement; the auditing functions of any public authorities; or commercial interests – or endanger health and safety or the effective conduct of public affairs or free and frank provision of advice and debate.
Vexatious Requests
A public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious. A vexatious request is one which is ‘obsessive or manifestly unreasonable’, harasses the authority or causes distress to its staff, imposes a significant burden, or if the request lacks any serious value.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Act 1998 set out rules for organisations to use in handling personal information. It gave people the right to see what personal information, organisations of all sorts hold about them. It also required businesses, public authorities and voluntary organisations to take steps to safeguard personal information and protect people’s privacy.
Data Protection and Freedom of Information can be in conflict. If, for example, the release of information held by a government agency relating to benefit claims could be used to identify who in a neighbourhood was claiming benefits, then it would be against the data protection law to release the information under freedom of information. In this case, the agency would take steps to anonymise the data before releasing it.
The same regulator - the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – applies in regulating the terms of the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act.
| Key Facts:
Freedom of information applies to recorded information held by public agencies and some organisations acting on their behalf. Although there is a general preseumption in favour of disclosing information, public bodies have to apply a public interest test to the decision. There are specific exclusions and the council and other bodies can turn down a request that is 'vexatious'. Data protection laws mean that information derived from personal data must be made anaonymous before it is released. |
Page Links from here
Information Commissioner’s Office Guide to Freedom of Information is aimed at people who work in public agencies and are responsible for ensuring freedom of information
See in the toolkit:
Making a Freedom of Information Request
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
| created: 2016-07-05 14:35:00 | by: admin | status: f published |