FOIA Section 6

From FOIwiki
Revision as of 01:36, 4 May 2011 by Bjh21 (talk | contribs) (→‎Department for Transport: HS1 privatised)
Jump to navigationJump to search
For Scotland, see FOISA Section 6 - Wholly owned companies
6. Publicly-owned companies.
(1) A company is a “publicly-owned company” for the purposes of section 3(1)(b) if—
(a) it is wholly owned by the Crown, or
(b) it is wholly owned by any public authority listed in Schedule 1 other than—
(i) a government department, or
(ii) any authority which is listed only in relation to particular information.
(2) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a company is wholly owned by the Crown if it has no members except—
(i) Ministers of the Crown, government departments or companies wholly owned by the Crown, or
(ii) persons acting on behalf of Ministers of the Crown, government departments or companies wholly owned by the Crown, and
(b)a company is wholly owned by a public authority other than a government department if it has no members except—
(i) that public authority or companies wholly owned by that public authority, or
(ii) persons acting on behalf of that public authority or of companies wholly owned by that public authority.
(3) In this section—
“company” includes any body corporate;
“Minister of the Crown” includes a Northern Ireland Minister.
Statutelaw.gov.uk.


This section makes some but not all companies in public ownership subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The definitions of "wholly owned" here are substantially the same as the definitions of "wholly-owned subsidiary" in the Companies Acts.

The Information Commissioner has produced guidance on the interpretation of section 6. In particular, he is of the opinion that section 6 deos not cover a company jointly owned by two schedule I authorities. This disagrees with the Scottish Information Commissioner's interpretation of the equivalent section of the Scottish Act.

There are various sources of company membership information.

Until recently, a company had to have at least two members, so a lot of publicly-owned companies have one share held on behalf of the parent authority by its chief executive or similar.

Various companies wholly owned by the Crown are deemed not to be publicly-owned companies for the purposes of section 3(1)(b), including:

By virtue of section 6(1)(b)(ii), subsidiaries of schedule I authorities that are only listed in respect of particular information are not public authorities themselves.

Companies wholly owned by the Crown

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Ministry of Defence

Department for Education

Department of Energy and Climate Change

Department for Enviroment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department of Health

Home Office

Department for International Development

Department for Regional Development (NI)

Department for Transport

HM Treasury

Northern Ireland

Companies wholly owned by other schedule 1 authorities

Local government

Blackpool Borough Council

Cardiff Council

East Cambridgeshire District Council

Enfield Borough Council

  • Enfield Norse Limited (06833446) (jointly with Norse Commercial Services Limited)

Essex Fire Authority

Halton Borough Council

Ipswich Borough Council

Suffolk Coastal District Council

Newport Council

Norfolk County Council

North Yorkshire County Council

Plymouth City Council

Reading Borough Council

Rossendale Borough Council

Transport for London

TfL has a useful list of subsidiaries here.

Stockport Borough Council

Warrington Borough Council

Waveney District Council

York City Council

Educational institutions

Bangor University

Guildford College

  • Guildford Consultancy and Training Limited (02802189) [dormant]
  • Guildford Direct Limited (04089913) [dormant]
  • Merrist Wood Enterprises Limited (03192400)

University of Cambridge

  • Cambridge Archive Editions Limited (03164415)
  • Cambridge Global Grid for Learning Limited (04691393)
  • Cambridge Knowledge (China) Limited [incorporated in Hong Kong]
  • Cambridge Printing Services Limited (05846590)
  • Cambridge University Press (Greece) EPE [incorporated in Greece]
  • Cambridge University Press (Holdings) Limited (04606950) [holding company]
  • Cambridge University Press Japan KK [incorporated in Japan]
  • Cambridge University Press South Africa (Proprietary) Limited [incorporated in South Africa]
  • Editorial Edicambridge Cia Ltda [incorporated in Ecuador]
  • ELT Trading SA DE CV [incorporated in Mexico]
  • United Publishers Services Limited [incorporated in Hong Kong]

Christ's College, Cambridge

  • Christ's College Enterprises Limited (04751229)

Churchill College, Cambridge

Downing College, Cambridge

Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

University of Durham

University of East London

University of Manchester

University of Oxford

University of Warwick

Other: general

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board

British Waterways Board

Civil Aviation Authority

Horserace Totalisator Board

  • Tote Bookmakers Limited
  • Tote Credit Limited
  • Tote Direct Limited
  • Totesport Alderney Limited [incorporated in Alderney]

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

ICO Lines To Take

Relevant Lines to Take
  • LTT73 - BBC America & BBC Worldwide - status - 10/11/2007
Retrieved from "https://foiwiki.com/foiwiki/index.php?title=FOIA_Section_6&oldid=21583"