Website of the Department of Health

Scope of the Act

The Act applies to all public authorities. Schedule 1 to the Act gives more details but the term 'public authorities' is defined very widely and it has been estimated that more than 100,000 bodies are involved.

Publication Schemes

The Act requires each public authority to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. The purpose of Publication Schemes is to specify the classes of information that the authority publishes or intends to publish; the form in which this is or will be done; and whether there is any charge for the information. Each scheme must be approved by the Information Commissioner (see below).

Right to Information

The individual right of access applies to all types of recorded information held by public authorities regardless of the date of the information. The Act does, however, set out some exemptions to this right. It also places a number of obligations on public authorities about the way in which they provide information. Subject to the exemptions, anyone making a request must be informed whether the public authority holds the information and, if so, be supplied with it - generally within 20 working days. There is also a duty to provide advice or assistance to anyone seeking information (for example in order to explain what is readily available or to clarify what is wanted).

Charging

There is no obligation for a public authority to provide information if the estimated cost of doing so would exceed an 'appropriate limit'. This limit will be set in secondary legislation sponsored by the Lord Chancellor's Department. In general, the Department of Health does not intend to charge for the information included in its Publication Scheme that is directly accessible through its website.

Right to Appeal

In any case where a request for information under the individual right of access is denied, it may be possible to appeal against the decision. In the first instance we would want any such appeals to be referred for in-house review by the Department of Health, but there will also be a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner (see below).

Information Commissioner

Responsibility for overseeing the operation of the Act rests with the Information Commissioner who is an independent public official responsible directly to Parliament. As well as approving Publication Schemes and promoting compliance with the Act, the Commissioner has powers of enforcement.

• The Information Commissioner's Office (opens new window)