Background
The Freedom of information (FOI) Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 came fully into force on the 1 January 2005.
The FOI Act gives everyone the right to access information held by the public authorities. The EIRs clarify and extend previous rights of access to environmental information.
The main features of the legislation are:
The Act provides a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities. This right is subject to certain exemptions most of which require case by case consideration of the balance of public interest.
Public authorities are required to adopt and maintain a publication scheme, which specifies the
- classes of information the authority publishes (or intends to publish);
- the manner in which it is published and;
- whether the information is available free or on payment of a charge.
The Act applies to a wide range of public bodies, including agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies as listed in the schedules to the Act.
The Information Commissioner, an independent public official is responsible for overseeing the operation of the legislation and approval of Publication Schemes. The Commissioner also promotes compliance and has powers of enforcement.
The FOI Act applies to all public authorities. Schedule 1 of the Act gives more details of organisations covered. Within MOD, only the Special Forces and military units providing assistance to the Government Communications HQ are outside the scope of the Act. The EIR have a somewhat wider scope which includes any body which has public responsibilities or functions relating to the environment.
To see the general guidance released to MOD staff on the administration of the legislation click on the link for the Desk Officer Guidance. Guidance for staff on handling commercial information is provided at the link opposite.
For more information about the Act, visit the Ministry of Justice website. For information about the EIRs, go to DEFRA's website.
Also available on the website:
- the MOD Publication Scheme: this records the commitment made by the MOD to publish to the Classes of Information specified in the ICO Model Publication Scheme 2009. The MOD's Guide to Information will assist in finding information within the Scheme;
- the MOD Disclosure Log: this gives access to a selection of responses to requests for information received by the MOD.
Copyright and the FOI Site
Supply of information under the Freedom of Information Act does not give the person or organisation the automatic right to reuse the documents in a way which will infringe copyright, for example, by making multiple copies, publishing or issuing to the public. This includes information requested for re-use purposes. For more information on copyright and the MOD, visit the Copyright Link at the bottom of this page.
Role of the Information Commissioner (IC)
Responsibility for overseeing the operation of the FOI Act and EIR rests with the Information Commissioner who is an independent public official responsible directly to Parliament. As well as approving Publication Schemes and promoting compliance with the legislation, the Commissioner has powers of enforcement. In particular, after the investigation of complaints he will issue a Decision Notice setting out any action he requires a public authority to take to fulfil its obligations. The IC is also responsible for overseeing and, where necessary, enforcing the rules for the processing of personal information set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. To find out more visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website.