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The Freedom of Information Act gives people the right to see data that others hold on them |
PEOPLE now have the right to access information held by 100,000 public bodies after the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 came into force.
This gives a general right of public access to all types of "recorded" information held by "public authorities", setting out exemptions and obligations.
Public authorities include government departments, local authorities, and many other public bodies including schools, colleges and universities.
The act will be fully enforced by the Information Commissioner who oversees Freedom of Information and Data Protection legislation.
Public authorities must:
- Produce a publication scheme - a guide to the "information" they hold that is routinely available to the public (eg. prospectuses, almanacs and websites).
Information does not have to be in a document or structured form, (eg. a database). The scheme must set out the classes of information the institution publishes, the manner the information is published and details of any charges.
In deciding what information should be included in a scheme an institution must take into account the issue of public interest when considering the degree of access to information provided and publishing the reasons for its decisions with regard to access.
Once approved it is up to the institution how it makes the scheme public. The scheme should then be reviewed periodically.
FE and HE institutions had to decide whether to adopt a 'Model Publication Scheme' or must have submitted their own scheme for approval by the end of 2003. Schemes should have been implemented by 29 February, 2004. Publication schemes in Scotland should have been submitted by 31 May, 2004 and will go live before 1 January, 2005.
- Deal with individual requests for information. Individuals already have the right to access personal data held on computer, and some paper files, under the Data Protection Act 1998. This is known as the 'subject access right'.
The Freedom of Information Act allows individuals to access other non-personal information, subject to exemptions. Individuals must be told whether the information they request is held by the institution and receive the information, where possible, in the manner requested (eg. paper or electronic format). A response time of 20 days has been set - shorter than the 40-day limit under the Data Protection Act 1998.
An institution must be able to answer any question about the information held by an institution unless it is already included in the publication scheme.
The Lord Chancellor's code of practice covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Any person who has made a request for information may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision on whether the request has been dealt with according to the Act. A similar code is embedded in the Scottish Act.
As demands on record-keeping practices have increased dramatically as a result of Data Protection and Freedom Of Information legislation, efficient records management is now seen as a strategic necessity for all institutions. JISC can advise on developing an institutional records management programme. |
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Please e-mail any omissions or amendments to support@hero.ac.uk
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