Dudley Solicitors

What are the basics of Freedom of Information ?

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act came into force on 1 January 2005. It promotes openness and access to information held by public authorities. A public authority must provide information on any chosen subject within a month of the request. The data must be obtained according to law.

The service is normally free of charge, however the authority may ask for small payments relating to administration work. If the request costs the authority more than £450, then they may refuse to accept the request.

The information provided by the authority should be supplied to the applicant in a permanent or summary form.

The Freedom of Information Act allows the applicant to use the information however he or she may like. However, it is crucial to ensure that no one’s copyrights are infringed.

In the event that the request for information is rejected, the applicant should contact the public authority for a review of their decision. If this is refused, the independent Information Commissioner can scrutinize the way the public authority took care of the request. If the information was wrongly withheld, the public authority will be ordered to disclose them.

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