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The Freedom of Information Act 2000 became law on 30 November 2000 and from January 2005 will give all persons a right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities unless the information is exempted from publication by provisions contained in the Act. It also places a number of obligations on Councils and other public authorities.
Under the legislation “public authority” includes but is not necessarily restricted to central and local government, the police, the National Health Service and schools, colleges and universities. Any person making a requesting information from a public authority must be told whether the public authority holds the information and, if it does, be given the information unless the information requested is not exempted from disclosure. The circumstances where an exemption may occur include but are not limited to information of a commercially sensitive or confidential nature, or subject to legal proceedings, or which is deemed not in the public interest to disclose.
It is important to note that individuals already have a right of access to information about themselves under the Data Protection Act 1998. The Freedom of Information Act extends the same kind of rights to allow the public access to all types of general information held by a local authority but does not allow persons the right to see or have access to personal information relating to other individuals.
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