1. INTRODUCTION
The passage of the Freedom of Information Act (“the Act”) marks the fulfilment of a longstanding Labour Party commitment to freedom of information. The Act is a major part of the constitutional reform which includes the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms into the UK Law with the Human Rights Act 1998 and the devolution of powers to the Scottish and Welsh assemblies.The
Government is committed to moving towards greater openness in the public
sector. When it was issued the draft Bill was described by the Home Office as
“a radical measure containing clear and robust access rights for those
requesting information and a strong enforcement regime”. It has been recognised
that legislation alone will not suffice to create a climate of openness; that
cultural and not merely legislative change is needed. The Act is intended to
act as a catalyst for change in the way that public authorities approach
openness and has been matched with other initiatives, such as the establishment
of an Advisory Group on Openness in the Public Sector, which published its
report in December 1999, and changes to the management of public records. The
Act does not apply to Scotland. The Scottish Executive published freedom of
information proposals on 25 November 1999 as “An Open Scotland – Freedom of
Information consultation”11. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill was published in 2001. The
Act does apply to Northern Ireland and Wales and the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 received Royal Assent in May 2002.
The
Act employs two mechanisms for placing information in the public domain.
Firstly, it establishes a right for any person making a request to a public
authority to be informed in writing whether or not the authority holds the
information sought and, if so, to have access to that information, subject to
exemptions. Secondly, it also imposes on public authorities a requirement to
publish information that they hold. Public authorities will be required to set
up and maintain publication schemes, which will set out the categories of
information which they undertake to publish.
Two
codes of practice have been issued; one deals with records management by public
authorities and the other gives guidance on dealing with the new access rights
and requests for information.
2. BACKGROUND TO THE ACT
A White Paper on Freedom of Information, “Your Right to Know”, was
published in December 1997 for comment and consultation. Following that White
Paper a draft Freedom of Information Bill was published, together with a
consultation document, for pre-legislative legislative scrutiny and public
consultation in May 1999. It was considered by Committees of the House of Lords
and the House of Commons, both of which reported in July 1999. The consultation
document2 remains a useful background overview of the Government’s approach in
this area.
The draft Bill was criticised for not being as radical as the White
Paper, however, despite this criticism, the revised Bill went to the House of
Commons very largely as it had appeared in the consultation. It progressed
through the Commons between December 1999 and April 2000. It was introduced to
the Lords in April 2000. There followed a period of uncertainty as to whether
the Bill would make it to the statute book during the life of the Parliament,
however in the end it did so and received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000.
3. THE OPEN GOVERNMENT CODE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION
There has been a gradual movement in public administration towards
making information accessible, fuelled partly by the increasing popularity of
access legislation in other jurisdictions (France passed laws in 1997, the
Netherlands 1991, Ireland 1998, Canada 1982, Australia 1982 and New Zealand
1982). The UK has participated in this movement.
Since
1994 public bodies subject to the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Administration have been required to comply with the Code of
Practice on Access to Government Information (the “Code”). This was adopted in
support of the broader policy of public access to information under the
Citizens’ Charter initiative. The Code has now been replaced by the Act.
4. IMPLEMENTATION
A period of 5 years from Royal Assent to November 2005 is provided for
full implementation of the Act.3 During this time the new obligations will be
applied gradually throughout the public sector. The definitions and order
making powers came into force on the day the Act was passed, as did the
provisions allowing for the preparation of model publication schemes and work
on the codes of practice.4 The first steps in the implementation of the
Act have been taken. The Data Protection Commissioner was re-named the
Information Commissioner from January 2001 and his office has produced guidance
material and contributed substantially to the preparation of publication
schemes.
The timetable for implementation is as follows: publication schemes were
required to be introduced over the 18 months between November 2002 and June
2004 with the right of access coming into effect for all public authorities in
January 2005.
5. RIGHT OF ACCESS
The core obligation in the Act is the requirement on public authorities
to respond in writing to specific requests made to them for the provision of
information, unless an exemption can be claimed. The response must be in two
parts; the authority must state whether it holds information of the type
requested and must communicate it to the applicant.5 Information
is very broadly treated. It is defined as information recorded in any form.6 As
the consultation paper explained:
“this includes paper records and information recorded
electronically, or by any other technological means. The records may be
structured or unstructured, and the information may be recorded in any number
of different forms, styles, media and location. The Bill does not in general
apply to unrecorded information, including information which at the time of the
request has not yet been recorded or information which was recorded only in
records which have been destroyed”
In view of the wide definition provisions have been
included to deal with potential difficulties in finding information and with
the sheer volumes of information which may be subject to requests.
Public authorities will not be obliged to provide
information where they cannot find it without assistance. They may make
reasonable enquiries of the applicant in order to identify and locate the
information requested.7 In such
circumstances, the public authority does not have to comply with its duty to
answer the request unless such information is received. The right to require
further information in order to locate the information required does not extend
to requiring to know why the information is being requested.
There is no formal application procedure. An
application simply has to be in writing, state the name of the applicant and
address for correspondence and describe the information requested; requests may
be electronically transmitted.8 A public
authority must comply promptly with its duty to confirm or deny if it holds the
information and to communicate the information if it does hold it. In any
event, it must comply within 20 working days from receipt of a request. 9
The information that must be communicated is that
which is held at the time when the request is received. However, the authority
may continue its normal processing and therefore amendments or deletions may be
made between the time the request is received and the time the information is
communicated as long as those would have been part of the routine processes in
any event.10
A code of practice has been produced by the Secretary of State on the handling of requests for access, dealing both with matters such as assistance to be given to applicants and complaints procedures.11 A copy of the code is available on the DCA website, www.dca.gov.uk/foi/codepafunc.htm
6. FEES
A public authority may charge a fee for providing the requested
information if it gives the applicant notice in writing to this effect.12 The amount of the fee will be determined by
regulations, which can also provide for fee exemptions or upper limits for
certain categories of information.13 Current regulations provide that central government should
provide up to £600 of information free of charge and other public authorities
up to £450. This is calculated on the basis of the cost of searching and
retrieving the information at a rate of £25 per man hour. Public authorities
will be under no legal obligation to provide more information than can be found
for that cost. The authority will still have a discretion to disclose further information if it is prepared to conduct additional
searches by agreement.14 Authorities can charge disbursements such as
copying costs in accordance with the regulations.
The
applicant will have three months from the date of the notice to pay the fee
before his request lapses. The 20 working days time period for compliance by
the public authority is suspended until the fee is paid.15 The Act deals with some of the
practical difficulties associated with providing information and among those it
has a specific defamation defence.16 Moreover, it recognises that some requests may
be vexatious and that authorities should not be obliged to respond to such
requests.17
7. PUBLIC AUTHORITIES
The
Act sets out a tight scheme for determining who is subject to these
obligations. Schedule 1 sets out a list of all the public authorities covered.
Schedule 1 is divided into seven sections. The Act covers government
departments, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the armed forces, local
authorities, National Health Service bodies, educational establishments, police
forces, and a long list of other public bodies.
The Secretary of State has a power to amend Schedule 1 but only to make
relatively minor amendments, for example to allow for new government
departments or new quangos to be added.18 A limited number of bodies are only included in
Schedule 1 for some of their functions. An example is the British Broadcasting
Corporation, which is covered in respect of information held for purposes other
than those of journalism, art or literature. Publicly owned companies (a
company is publicly owned if it is wholly owned by the Crown or one of the public
authorities listed in Schedule 1 other than those which are only listed in
respect of limited purposes) are covered, as is information which is held by
another person on behalf of the authority.19
The
Secretary of State has an order making power which will enable him to designate
further bodies as public authorities where they appear to him to exercise
functions of a public nature or they are providing services for a public
authority under a contract.20 There is a consultation obligation before this power
is exercised.
The
Secretary of State may designate further bodies who have certain functions of a
public nature as public authorities and in doing so he may designate the
particular functions. He also has a power to make a specific order excluding particular
information from the FOI provisions.21
For
the purposes of requests made and actions taken against public bodies each
government department is treated as though it is a different legal entity,
although in law all are part of the Crown.22
8. RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The Act changes the rules relating to historical
records and records held by the National Archives. The existing rules for
public records are rather complex. Although the basic rule for public records
is the “thirty year rule”, that is that records selected for retention as
public records will not generally be available until 30 years after the
creation of the latest part of the record,23 the Lord Chancellor and the appropriate Minister have
wide discretionary powers to provide for longer or shorter timescales for
particular types of records. Moreover there are extended closure periods for
some kinds of records.
The Act integrates the rights of access to public records with the new
wider rights of access. Under the Act records will become generally available,
subject to the application of the exemptions. After 30 years public records
will become “historical records” and certain freedom of information exemptions
will become inapplicable to them.24 Further sets of
exemptions will become inapplicable after 60 years and 100 years. A few
exemptions can still apply to records even after the expiry of 100 years.
The Lord Chancellor must issue a code of practice for public authorities
to follow in relation to the keeping, management and destruction of records.25 A copy of the Code is available from the National
Archives website, www.pro.gov.uk.
9. EXEMPTIONS
Part II of the Act sets out the exemptions. The
exemptions can be categorised in a number of different ways. There is, in
effect, a gradation in the exemptions. Some information is exempt on a class
basis without any test of prejudice, both from the obligation to confirm or
deny that it exists and from the obligation to provide it. These are some of
the “absolute exemptions”.26 At the other
extreme some information that can give rise to an initial claim for exemption
will only be exempt if its disclosure will result in prejudice to the public
interest and, in any event, the public authority must acknowledge that it holds
the information and give reasons for the refusal to supply it.
The absolute exemptions are:
- Information reasonably accessible to the public by other means 27
- Information directly or indirectly supplied to the public authority by certain bodies dealing with security matters, including GCHQ and the Security Service28
- Court and associated records29
- Information subject to Parliamentary privilege 30
- Information held by either House of Parliament whose disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs 31
- Personal information where the applicant is the data subject or, in some circumstances, the data relates to another individual32
- Information provided in confidence 33
- Information prohibited from disclosure under other laws, obligations or where it would involve a contempt of court34
Some
of the absolute exemptions include a separate test in relation to the duty to
confirm or deny, i.e., even though the exemption is an absolute one the public
authority claiming it must consider whether to acknowledge the existence of the
information.
Where
exemptions are not absolute exemptions they can only be relied upon by the
public authority if the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs
the public interest in the disclosure of the information.
The
exemptions subject to these rules include:
- Information intended for future publication 35
- Information other than that falling within section 23, which is required for safeguarding national security 36
- Information likely to prejudice the defence of the British Isles, any colony or the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces 37
They
also cover information which would prejudice or be likely to prejudice the
economic interests of the UK; that which would prejudice or be likely to
prejudice certain law enforcement matters; legal professional privilege and
trade secrets or information which would or would be likely to prejudice the
commercial interests of any person (including the holding public authority).
10. PUBLICATION SCHEMES
A
public authority is required to go further than simply providing access to
information on request, in that each public authority is required to adopt,
maintain and, from time to time review, a scheme for the publication of
information (a “publication scheme”) which specifies the classes of information
it publishes or intends to publish, the manner of publication and whether a fee
is payable.38 In doing so, a public authority must have regard to the public interest
in allowing public access to information held by the authority. A public
authority is under a duty to publish information in accordance with its
publication scheme.
These
schemes must be approved by the Information Commissioner although there may be
model publication schemes in place for certain classes of public authority
(e.g. schools) which, if adopted, will only need specific approval if they are
modified in any way.39
11. ENFORCEMENT
In
addition to the obligations to promote good practice and compliance with the
Act, to approve publication schemes and disseminate advice about the Act, the
Information Commissioner has an important enforcement role. An applicant for
information can apply to the Information Commissioner if he is not satisfied
with the response received from a public authority and he has exhausted the
authority’s own complaints system.40 In most circumstances the Information
Commissioner is required to serve a decision notice on the complainant and the
public authority.41 The notice will contain the steps to be taken by the public authority
within a specified period if the Commissioner decides that the authority has
not complied with its requirement to communicate the information.42 If
the Information Commissioner needs further information from the authority
before determining a complaint, an information notice can be served, requiring
the authority to provide specified information to the Commissioner within a
specified period.43 The Information Commissioner also has powers of entry and inspection
similar to those under the Data Protection Act 1998.44
An
enforcement notice can be served by the Information Commissioner where a public
authority has failed to comply with any of its obligations under Part I of the
Act (e.g. to communicate information or to do so within a particular
timeframe), requiring the authority to take specified steps, again within a
specified timescale.45 In any case where an information notice,
decision notice or enforcement notice has been served, the public authority can
appeal to the Information Tribunal who will either allow or dismiss the appeal
or substitute such other notice as could have been served by the Commissioner.46 A
complainant can also appeal against a decision notice to the Information
Tribunal.47
There
is an exception from the obligation on a public authority to comply with a
decision or enforcement notice where a Minister provides a formal certificate
which “overrides” the order of the Commissioner.48
Where
a public authority has failed to comply with the codes of practice issued under
the Act, the Commissioner may serve a “practice recommendation” stating that,
in the Commissioner’s opinion, the authority has failed to comply with the code
and specifying the steps that should be taken to do so.49
The
Act makes it an offence to alter, deface, block, erase, destroy or conceal
records held by a public authority with the intention of preventing their
disclosure to an applicant who has requested the information, the penalty being
a fine. 50
Where
a public authority fails to comply with a decision notice (if steps were
required to be taken), an information notice or an enforcement notice, the
Information Commissioner can certify such failure in writing to the Court and
the Court may then deal with the authority as if it had committed a contempt of
court.51 The
enforcement mechanism does not provide for private rights of action in the way
that the FOI regime in the United States of America does.
12. RELATION WITH DATA PROTECTION
In dealing with personal data, the Government was faced with the difficult situation of resolving the interface between the new access rights and the restrictions on disclosures of personal information imposed under the Data Protection Act 1998, passed in order to implement a European Directive. The resolution provides that all requests for personal information are dealt with either under the data protection regime or taking close account of data protection considerations. The likely outcome is that data protection considerations will take precedence over FOI. This has however been subject to considerable criticism, both on the grounds of sheer complexity and on the basis that it may well lead to the withholding of more information than is strictly necessary.
13. COMMENTS
The
legislation will entail significant process changes for public authorities in
their records management and publication of information, as well as dealing
with particular specific requests. The Act will be “retrospective” in the sense
that there is no saving for information created before it came into effect. The
combination of all of these will mean major changes for public authorities.
The
new legal regime is complemented by regulations necessary for access to
environmental information (the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
It
should also be noted that the Act itself does not repeal any statutory bars to
disclosure. However, there is an order making power under which the Secretary
of State will be able to repeal or amend any enactment which prohibits the
disclosure of information held by a public authority where that enactment is
capable of preventing the disclosure of information under the FOI right. It may
be that this will be used to lead to a gradual dismantling of statutory bars
found in other legislation.
There
have, of course, been widespread criticisms of the exemptions as well as the
timescale involved in implementation, which allows for a 5 year transition
period, although those who are employed by public authorities and are
responsible for preparing for this radical change may well not be among those
complaining on that score.
Footnotes
1 SE1999/51 Edinburgh
2 (CM4355)
3 Section 87(3)
4 section 87 (1)
5 Section 1(1)
6 section 84
7 section 1(2)
8 section 8
9 section 10(1)
10 section1 (4)
11 section 45
12 section 9 (1)
13 section 9(4)
14 section 13
15 section 10
16 section 79
17 section 14
18 section 4 1
9 section 6
20 section 5
21 section7
22 section 81
23 Public Records Act 1958 amended by Public records Act
1967 section 5(1)
24 section 63
25 section 46
26 section 2(3)
27 section 21
28 section 23
29 section 32
30 section 34
31 section 36 and 2(3)(e)
32 section 40
33 section 41
34 section 44
35 section 22
36 section 24
37 section 26
38 section 19
39 section 20
40 section 50
41 section 50 (3)
42 section 50 (4)
43 section 51
44 Section 55 and schedule 3
45 section 52
46 sections 57 and 58
47 section 57 (1)
48 section 53
49 section 48
50 section 77
51 section 54
Copyright Pinsent Masons 2002-2005
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