Page 263 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
Where possible, the information must be provided by the public authority to the applicant in
the manner requested. This may be in the form of a copy or a summary. The applicant may
ask to inspect the record itself.

Delay
A response must be provided promptly and in any event within 20 working days or another
period as provided for under regulations to be no longer than 60 working days. If a fee is
charged, the period of 20 working days will be extended by up to three months until the fee
is paid.

Where a public authority is not able to reach a decision in respect of the public interest in
disclosure within 20 working days, it must reach a decision within a reasonable period. In
such circumstances, the authority is still required to issue a notice to the application that an
exemption applies within the 20 working days limit.

A public authority may ask for further information it reasonably requires in order to identify
and locate the information requested.

Fees

A fee may be charged for dealing with the request. The FIA provides that the Secretary of
State may make regulations governing fees to be charged by authorities which will be set out
in the Secretary of State’s Fees Regulations. Public authorities must notify the applicant that
a fee is payable and that it is exempt from having to disclose information until the fee has
been paid.

14.3.6 Enforcement

The FIA will be enforced by the newly established Information Commissioner. The
Information Commissioner also issues practice recommendations on compliance with the
FIA and the codes issued under it. A newly established Information Tribunal, formerly
the Data Protection Tribunal, will oversee the decisions of the Information Commissioner.

The Information Commissioner will oversee the FIA, as well as the Data Protection Act
1998. In the future, the Data Protection Commissioner will therefore become the Information
Commissioner. Because the FIA and the Data Protection Act 1998 both relate to information
policy, this double supervisory role should allow the Information Commissioner to provide
a coherent approach to the handling of and access to information.

An applicant who is not given access information to the information requested from a public
authority must first follow the public authority’s complaints procedure. If the applicant is still
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