freedom of information.co.uk

November 5th 2004

The Armed Forces and schools will be given extra time to respond to Freedom of Information requests, under government proposals announced to Parliament yesterday. The Freedom of Information Act, which comes into force on January 1st 2005, normally requires public authorities to respond to information requests within 20 working days.   The new parliamentary order proposes allowing schools to discount school holidays, as staff will often be unavailable to answer requests.  If the information has to be retreived from soemone involved in a military operation, or if it is held abroad, the deadline may be extended to up to 60 working days. 

The new parliamentary order proposes allowing schools to discount school holidays, as staff will often be unavailable to answer requests.  If the information has to be retreived from soemone involved in a military operation, or if it is held abroad, the deadline may be extended to up to 60 working days. 

The proposals also allow the National Archives an extension to up to 30 working days for requests involving transferred public records not designated as open information, where it needs to determine whether the information is exempt.

Commenting on the order, issued under section 10(4) of the FOIA, Information Rights Minister, Baroness Cathy Ashton, said: ‘It is right that schools will be allowed to take account of holidays, when there is no-one around to pick up requests, especially during the summer break. The military will also need some leeway, as retrieving information from the armed forces on operations around the world will not always be straightforward.  We don't expect these extensions to be used in every situation involving the armed forces, or where there is a need to consult abroad, but we recognise that on some occasions it will not be practical to meet the 20-day deadline.’

The order follows consultations with Government departments to consider circumstances in which public authorities might need more than 20 working days to respond.  Baroness Ashton said that process identified ‘the most pressing circumstances.’

The order applies to the whole of the United Kingdom, including public authorities subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

A second order was placed before Parliament yesterday repealing or amending legislation that could prevent public authorities from disclosing information under the FOIA.  These include section 118 of the 1968 Medicines Act, which prohibits the disclosure of information about the manufacture and licensing of drugs.

Both orders must be agreed by both Houses of Parliament.