Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

paid is not counted. The Secretary of State may, by regulation, extend this period in respect of different
classes of information to up to 60 days (section 10). 292
A slightly different regime applies when a disclosure decision depends on a consideration of the overall
public interest. 293 In such cases, the public body does not need to provide the information, “until such time
as is reasonable in the circumstances” (section 10). However, the applicant must be notifi ed within the
twenty days that the matter is still under consideration, and this notice should give an estimate of the time
within which a decision will be made (section 17(2)). Where, after such a delay, the fi nal decision is not to
disclose, a further notice must be sent setting out the reasons for this (section 17(3)).
The RTI Law does not address the questions of transfer of requests or consultation with third parties directly
but, rather, provides for elaboration of these matters in the Code of Practice pursuant to section 45. In
general, where the information sought is held by another public body, the applicant should be informed of
this and of the contact details of that other public body. Where this would be ‘more appropriate’, a request
may be transferred directly to another public body but only where that public body has been consulted to
verify that it does hold the information and where objections from the applicant are not likely (or his or her
consent to the transfer has been obtained). In this case, the applicant shall be informed of the transfer as
soon as possible and the time limits start to run from the date on which the other public body receives the
request (Part III of the Code of Practice).
Part IV of the Code of Practice addresses the issue of consultations with third parties, which are highly
recommended where the information relates to someone other than the applicant or where disclosure of
the information is likely to affect the interests of a third party. Where the information has been supplied by
another public body, that body must be notifi ed and where appropriate consulted, before the information
is disclosed.
Notice must be provided to an applicant of an refusal to disclose information, stating the exception which is
being applied, the reasons therefore, and details of any internal complaints procedure, as well as the right
to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner (section 17).
Under the RTI Law, the applicant may specify the form in which he or she wishes to receive the information.
Three different forms are listed as options for the applicant: in permanent or another form; an opportunity
to inspect a record containing the information; or a digest or summary of the information in permanent
or another form. The public body must provide the information in the form requested, as far as to do so is
“reasonably practicable”, taking into account, among other things, the cost (section 11).
The Law contains two separate systems for fees, one for ‘ordinary’ request and one which comes into play
for more complicated requests. Pursuant to the fi rst, public bodies may make disclosure of information
conditional upon payment of a fee and any such fee must be paid within three months (section 9(2)). Such
fees must be in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State and these may prescribe that
no fee is to be paid in certain cases, set a maximum fee and/or provide for the manner in which fees are to
be calculated. Regulations adopted in 2004 provide that only the costs of informing the applicant of the fact
that it holds the information and communicating the information to him or her (including reproduction and
postage or other transmission costs), but no costs for staff time, may be charged. 294
This regime does not, however, apply to the second fee system which, pursuant to section 12, comes into
play when the cost of providing information would exceed such “appropriate limit … as may be prescribed”.
The 2004 Regulations set this limit at £600 (approximately USD1234) for central government and parliament
and £450 for the wider public sector. In calculating the costs, the time spent determining whether the
information is held, and the time spent locating, retrieving and extracting the information may be charged
at £25/hour (approximately USD54) (paragraph 4). The cost of multiple requests may be aggregated where
two or more requests relating to similar information are received within a period of 60 working days,
and are made by the same person or persons who appear to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a
campaign. Where the costs would exceed the limit, the public body is not under any obligation to provide
the information although, pursuant to section 13, it may still provide it and charge all of the costs noted
above to calculate the limit, as well as the costs of reproducing and communicating the information to
the applicant (paragraph 7 of the Regulations). The permissive language used means that section 12 is
formally an exception which allows public bodies to refuse all larger requests.
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