Freedom of Information

This page is an extract from the full topic guidance on Freedom Of Information [138KB PDF]. It details any Constraints associated with Freedom Of Information, provides a summary of the Authoritative Guidance and lists any essential reading, further reading or associated documents.

If you have any queries on this topic, please contact the Sponsor by email: DGDC CS-2D-Asst Hd.

Constraints

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 applies to Public Authorities such as MOD since it came into force on 1 January 2005.

Crown servants are subject to the provisions relating to the disclosure of information under the Official Secrets Act 1989, the Armed Forces Act 2006 and the Civil Service Code. Unauthorised disclosure of information may lead to criminal prosecution.

Authoritative Guidance Summary

The FOI Act creates a general right of access to all recorded information held by Public Authorities. From 1 January 2005 any person making a request for information, subject to certain exemptions, must be informed whether the Public Authority holds the information and, if so, be supplied with it within 20 working days.

The FOI Act provides:

an absolute exemption for 'information provided in confidence' where disclosure of the information to the public would constitute a legally actionable breach of confidence; and
an exemption under 'commercial interests' subject to a Public Interest Test (PI Test) for information that constitutes a 'trade secret' or where disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of any person.

Decisions to release or withhold commercial information should only be taken by 1-Star (or equivalent) authorising officers after consulting appropriate stakeholders as described under Internal and External Consultation under Authoritative Guidance.

Commercial Policy Group Guideline No 10 [53KB PDF] on The Freedom of Information Act 2000 And Environmental Information Regulations 2004 sets out the agreed procedures for consulting industry.

Associated Documents

Annex A - Process Map For Handling Requests [68KB PDF]

Annex B - Guidelines For Disclosure Of Commercial Information Under The FOI Act [88KB PDF]

Annex C - FOI/EIR: Release Of Commercial Information By Trading Funds, As Suppliers [116KB PDF]

1 December 2009: Constraints amended to reflect the introduction of the Armed Forces Act 2006.
1 September 2009: New Paragraph 90 added.
1 August 2009: Paragraph 37b has been amended to reflect Director Commercial Law (DCL) team based at Abbey Wood changing their name to Central Legal Services Commercial Law (CLS-CL).
1 May 2009: Amended to reflect DCD Departmental name change.
1 October 2008: Substantive changes to the FOI topic including a reference to the "Commercial Policy Group Guideline No 10 on The Freedom of Information Act 2000 And Environmental Information Regulations 2004" (see Paragraph 38) and change in the disclosure policy for contract value (see Paragraphs 38 and 48 of Annex B). Our default position is now to disclose the "total" value of the contract instead of the "headline" value in the contract award notice. This is in response to emerging policy from the Information Commission who is expecting greater transparency with regard to public contracts. Most acquisition teams do already publish the total value of the contract in the award notice. However, exceptionally, where there are specific and valid reasons not to do so then acquisition teams can use an approximate figure or withhold the figure.
1 August 2008: Minor edits to support Departmental name changes.
1 May 2008: Annexes removed from main document and replaced with individual documents.
1 June 2007: Amended to reflect revised guidance on: the MOD Publication Scheme (Paragraph 9); lessons learnt on handling requests for information (Paragraphs 13 and 14); new case law on the exemptions for information provided in confidence (Paragraph 34) and commercial interests (Paragraph 38); and on appeals to the Information Tribunal (Paragraph 46).
1 May 2007: Minor edits to support Departmental name changes.
1 April 2007: Minor edits to support Departmental name changes.
1 October 2006: Updated to include minor editorial changes.
1 August 2006: Updated to include advice on re-use of public sector information (see Annex C Paragraphs 51/52) and Annex E (New) guidance for Trading Funds.

Freedom of Information

Constraints

Authoritative Guidance Summary

Associated Documents

Further Reading

Change History