The FOIA
The Freedom of Information Act gives individuals and organisations the legal right to access information held by public authorities and imposes obligations on public authorities to make that information available on request. The Act recognises that there will be cases where information ought not to be disclosed but requires public authorities to justify refusals by reference to exemptions set out in the Act. Some of these exemptions can be relied on only in very limited circumstances and many of them apply only where the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs he public interest in disclosure.
The Act also obliges public authorities to adopt, maintain and comply with a publication scheme identifying categories of information that they are prepared to make available to the public on a proactive basis. They must also comply with a code of practice in relation to records management and have a statutory duty to advise and assist individuals seeking to access information under the Act.
The Act is enforced by the Information Commissioner who has powers to deal with complaints from applicants concerning the handling of requests by public authorities. The ICO may compel the production to him of relevant information and order the disclosure of information that has been inappropriately withheld.
Since its full implementation in 2005 the Act has been used by members of the public and the press to access a wide variety of information in a number of high profile cases including:
- Information concerning MPs’ expenses
- Details of
- Salary levels of public officials
- High profile government contracts
- Minutes of
- Heart surgeons’ performance rates
- Compensation paid to IRA suspects
- Admissions discrimination by universities
