The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies only to England, Ireland and Wales – Scotland has similar but separate legislation – and will require a transformation in the way public authorities deal with information requests from the general public.
Some parts of the Act are already in force, but many important provisions are not due to take effect until 1st January 2005. These include:
A general right of access to information held by public authorities in the course of carrying our their public functions, subject to certain conditions and exemptions;
A duty to disclose exempted information - in most cases - where it is in the public interest to do so; and
Publication schemes - each public authority will have to adopt a scheme for the publication of information. These must be approved by the Commissioner, will specify the classes of information the authority intends to publish, the manner of publication and whether the information is available to the public free of charge.
People will have the right to access information from a wide range of public bodies, from local authorities to GP surgeries, after the Act has been fully implemented. Twenty-two further bodies have now been added to this list, following submissions to the Department of Constitutional Affairs.
These range from the Advisory Committee on Organic Standards and the Chemical Weapons Convention National Authority Advisory Committee to the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner and the Pesticides Forum.
See: