Section 10Time for compliance with request.

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.

(2) Where the authority has given a fees notice to the applicant and the fee is paid in accordance with section 9(2), the working days in the period beginning with the day on which the fees notice is given to the applicant and ending with the day on which the fee is received by the authority are to be disregarded in calculating for the purposes of subsection (1) the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.

(3) If, and to the extent that—

• (a)
  section 1(1)(a) would not apply if the condition in section 2(1)(b) were satisfied, or
• (b)
  section 1(1)(b) would not apply if the condition in section 2(2)(b) were satisfied,

the public authority need not comply with section 1(1)(a) or (b) until such time as is reasonable in the circumstances; but this subsection does not affect the time by which any notice under section 17(1) must be given.

(4) The [^F1Minister for the Cabinet Office] may by regulations provide that subsections (1) and (2) are to have effect as if any reference to the twentieth working day following the date of receipt were a reference to such other day, not later than the sixtieth working day following the date of receipt, as may be specified in, or determined in accordance with, the regulations.

(5) Regulations under subsection (4) may—

• (a)
  prescribe different days in relation to different cases, and
• (b)
  confer a discretion on the [^F2Commission].

(6) In this section—

• “the date of receipt” means—

  • (a)
    the day on which the public authority receives the request for information, or
  • (b)
    if later, the day on which it receives the information referred to in section 1(3);
• “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday under the ^M1Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United Kingdom.