The following notes have been taken from "McNae's Essential Law for Journalists" (20th Ed)
Freedom of Information Act (2000)
The Freedom of Information Act was a New Labour policy objective and came in to effect in 2005. This was the UK's first general right of access to information held by government departments and other public authorities in the UK. It makes it mandatory on a public authority to disclose whether or not it has the information being requested. However it isn't necessarily easy to use and a user of the Act must be prepared to argue for the 'public interest' justification for information to be shared.
The authorities must supply the information requested without any financial charge for finding and collating it; that is if meeting the request costs them no more than £600 (national government) or £450 (local councils & other types of authorities).
In total there are around 100,000 major and minor bodies in the public sector that are covered by the Act. However there are some that are exempt from the Act, meaning that they do not have to respond to a Freedom of Information request. These include the UK's security and intelligence agencies- MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. Courts and tribunals are also exempt.
So how does it work? Well a 'public authority' must respond to the request within 20 days of receiving it; supplying the information or explaining why it cannot be supplied.
Reasons why information will NOT be supplied:
- The public authority does not hold the information in which case this should be made clear
- The request would exceed the cost limits (see above)
- The information is exempt under the Act e.g. the information is held in confidence or concerns national security
Section 16 of the Act requires public authorities to give someone who has requested or is proposing to request information "advice and assistance so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do so".
They should tell you before you make the request what information, of the type that you want, is available. They should also give you guidance to avoid your request breaching the cost limit for such information to be provided without charge.
Some exemptions are absolute. The public authority doesn't have to give a reason for not disclosing the information other than stating that it is exempt.
Some exemptions are qualified meaning the public authority must give reasons and have applied the 'public interest test' to justify its refusal to provide information.
Public Interest Factors:
- Furthering the understanding and participation in the public debate of the day
- Promoting accountability and transparency in the spending of public money
- Allowing individuals and companies to understand decisions made by public authorities affecting their lives
- Bringing to light information affecting public health and safety.
