Section 6Publicly-owned companies.

(1) A company is a “publicly-owned company” for the purposes of section 3(1)(b) if—

(a)
it is wholly owned by the Crown, ^F1...
(b)
it is wholly owned by [^F2the wider public sector] [^F3, or
(c)
it is wholly owned by the Crown and the wider public sector.]

(2) [^F4 For the purposes of this section—

(a)
a company is wholly owned by the Crown if, and only if, every member is a person falling within sub-paragraph (i) or (ii)—
- (i)
  a Minister of the Crown, government department or company wholly owned by the Crown, or
- (ii)
  a person acting on behalf of a Minister of the Crown, government department or company wholly owned by the Crown,
(b)
a company is wholly owned by the wider public sector if, and only if, every member is a person falling within sub-paragraph (i) or (ii)—
- (i)
  a relevant public authority or a company wholly owned by the wider public sector, or
- (ii)
  a person acting on behalf of a relevant public authority or of a company wholly owned by the wider public sector, and
(c)
a company is wholly owned by the Crown and the wider public sector if, and only if, condition A, B or C is met.

(2A) In subsection (2)(c)—

(a)
condition A is met if—
- (i)
  at least one member is a person falling within subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii),
- (ii)
  at least one member is a person falling within subsection (2)(b)(i) or (ii), and
- (iii)
  every member is a person falling within subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii) or (b)(i) or (ii),
(b)
condition B is met if—
- (i)
  at least one member is a person falling within subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii) or (b)(i) or (ii),
- (ii)
  at least one member is a company wholly owned by the Crown and the wider public sector, and
- (iii)
  every member is a person falling within subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii) or (b)(i) or (ii) or a company wholly owned by the Crown and the wider public sector, and
(c)
condition C is met if every member is a company wholly owned by the Crown and the wider public sector.]

(3) In this section—

“company” includes any body corporate;
“Minister of the Crown” includes a Northern Ireland Minister.
[^F5 “ relevant public authority ” means any public authority listed in Schedule 1 other than—
a government department, or
any authority which is listed only in relation to particular information]

Amended text

This Section is shown as amended by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (see the annotations below), as incorporated in the text in force on 7 October 2026 as published on legislation.gov.uk.

Annotations

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in s. 6(1)(a) repealed (1.9.2013) by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), ss. 103(2)(a), 120, Sch. 10 Pt. 7 (with s. 97); S.I. 2013/1906, art. 3(b)
F2 Words in s. 6(1)(b) substituted (1.9.2013) by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), ss. 103(2)(b), 120 (with s. 97); S.I. 2013/1906, art. 3(b)
F3 S. 6(1)(c) and word inserted (1.9.2013) by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), ss. 103(2)(c), 120 (with s. 97); S.I. 2013/1906, art. 3(b)
F4 S. 6(2)(2A) substituted for s. 6(2) (1.9.2013) by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), ss. 103(3), 120 (with s. 97); S.I. 2013/1906, art. 3(b)
F5 Words in s. 6(3) inserted (1.9.2013) by Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), ss. 103(4), 120 (with s. 97); S.I. 2013/1906, art. 3(b)

https://foia.digiphile.law/article/article-6.html

Text as at 7 October 2026.

This is an unofficial convenience version of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It is presented “as is” without guarantee of accuracy, completeness or reliability. See the source text for the official version. This site was last updated in October 2026.