Freedom of Information

Right to Information

The Act applies to any type of recorded information held by a public authority irrespective of the date of the information. There are some exemptions to this right such as data pertaining to national security, national interests (economic or otherwise), Parliamentary privilege, criminal investigations and so on.

The Act places a number of obligations on public authorities, subject to any exemptions:

• any person who makes a request must be informed whether the public authority holds the information they have requested and whether there will be any cost involved. The information must be supplied within 20 working days;
• the information must be supplied in a format acceptable to the applicant (so far as reasonably practicable and subject to cost); and
• there is a duty to provide advice and assistance to anyone seeking information.