Part IAccess to information held by public authorities

Right to information

• Section 1General right of access to information held by public authorities.

  (1) Any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled— (a) to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information…

• Section 2Effect of the exemptions in Part II.

  (1) Where any provision of Part II states that the duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to any information, the effect of the provision…

• Section 3Public authorities.

  (1) In this Act “public authority” means— (a) subject to section 4(4) , any body which, any other person who, or the holder of any office which— (i)…

• Section 4Amendment of Schedule 1.

  (1) The Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office may by order amend Schedule 1 by adding to that Schedule a reference to any body…

• Section 5Further power to designate public authorities.

  (1) The Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office may by order designate as a public authority for the purposes of this Act any person…

• 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, ... (b) it is wholly…

• Section 7Public authorities to which Act has limited application.

  (1) Where a public authority is listed in Schedule 1 only in relation to information of a specified description, nothing in Parts I to V of this Act…

• Section 8Request for information.

  (1) In this Act any reference to a “request for information” is a reference to such a request which— (a) is in writing, (b) states the name of…

• Section 9Fees.

  (1) A public authority to whom a request for information is made may, within the period for complying with section 1(1) , give the applicant a notice in…

• 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…

• Section 11Means by which communication to be made.

  (1) Where, on making his request for information, the applicant expresses a preference for communication by any one or more of the following means, namely— (a) the provision…

• Section 11ARelease of datasets for re-use

  (1) This section applies where— (a) a person makes a request for information to a public authority in respect of information that is, or forms part of, a…

• Section 11BPower to charge fees in relation to release of datasets for re-use

  (1) The Minister for the Cabinet Office may, with the consent of the Treasury, make provision by regulations about the charging of fees by public authorities in connection…

• Section 12Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.

  (1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request…

• Section 13Fees for disclosure where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.

  (1) A public authority may charge for the communication of any information whose communication— (a) is not required by section 1(1) because the cost of complying with the…

• Section 14Vexatious or repeated requests.

  (1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious. (2) Where a public authority has previously…

• Section 15Special provisions relating to public records transferred to Public Record Office, etc.

  (1) Where— (a) the appropriate records authority receives a request for information which relates to information which is, or if it existed would be, contained in a transferred…

• Section 16Duty to provide advice and assistance.

  (1) It shall be the duty of a public authority to provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do…

Refusal of request

• Section 17Refusal of request.

  (1) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is to any extent relying on a claim that any provision of Part II relating to…

The Information Commission ...

• Section 18The Information Commission...

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Publication schemes

• Section 19Publication schemes.

  (1) It shall be the duty of every public authority— (a) to adopt and maintain a scheme which relates to the publication of information by the authority and…

• Section 20Model publication schemes.

  (1) The Commission may from time to time approve, in relation to public authorities falling within particular classes, model publication schemes prepared by the Commission or by other…