The Financial Ombudsman Service
("FOS"), the Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service ("UCAS") and the
Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern
Ireland ("ACPO") have been designated as
public authorities and as a result must now comply with the Freedom
of Information Act ("FOIA").
Following a consultation with the Ministry of Justice, this change
has been brought about on the basis that these organisations appear
to the Secretary of State to exercise functions of a public nature.
The application of the FOIA to these organisations is, however,
limited to information that is held in relation to specified
functions.
As a consequence of having been brought within the scope of the
FOIA, FOS, UCAS and ACPO are required to release information in
response to a valid FOIA request wherever possible, unless the
release of such information falls within a relevant exception, or a
qualified exemption applies. In addition, if information is to be
withheld pursuant to an exemption, the public interest in
withholding the information must outweigh the public interest in
releasing the information.
Despite ever more information being made available to the public,
Justice Minister Lord McNally has emphasised that personal data
must still be adequately protected: "We must ensure that
people's privacy is preserved and their personal data is
protected", he said at a recent Westminster Legal Policy
forum.
Individuals' personal data also continues to be protected by
the Data Protection Act ("DPA") and
various exemptions in the FOIA (Section 40 in particular).
Individuals are able to make subject access requests under the DPA
in relation to their own personal data held by public authorities
but (subject to limited exceptions) third parties' personal
data shall not be disclosed unless it would be reasonable in all
the circumstances to do so. Guidance produced by the Information
Commissioner's Office explains: "Generally this will
mean balancing the legitimate interests of the public in having
access to the information against the interests of the individual
under the first principle and, in particular, considering whether
it is unfair to release the information."
The Government is also considering bringing a number of other
bodies within the scope of the FOIA including the Local Government
Association, examination boards and harbour authorities.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 15/11/2011.
