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<big>'''FOI''wiki'' - helping you unlock the secrets of UK Freedom of Information laws'''</big>
<big>'''FOI''wiki'' - helping you unlock the secrets of UK Freedom of Information laws'''</big>


== Introduction ==
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background: #99BBAA;"
|-
|FOI''wiki'' is designed to help you ensure your Freedom of Information requests are fairly treated by Public Authorities.  Often the Authority will misapply an Exemption to your request and not supply the information you're after.  This site allows you to check the law and official guidance all in one place.
|}


What the site is for
==How FOI works==
The Freedom of Information laws all roughly follow the same process, although there are some subtle differences:
# You make an [[information request]] to a public authority.  The authority can ask you to [[clarification|clarify]] this.Normally the request won't cost you anything, but occasionally the authority may ask you to pay a [[fees|fee]] to cover printing and postage or other costs
# within [[time_for_compliance|20 working days]] the authority will normally either send you the information you asked for or will refuse to send it, claiming one or more [[exemptions|exemptions]] that are allowed to them under the laws.
# for refusals, you can [[internal_reviews|ask]] to the authority to reconsider the way your request was handled.
# if that doesn't work you also have the [[right to appeal]] to a tribunal/court.


== Exemptions guidance ==
==the Law==


<big>UK Freedom of Information Act 2000</big>
Main article: [[access to information laws]]


* [[Section21|Section 21]]: Information Accessible By Other Means
The following rules apply to FOI requests in the UK.  Follow the links for more details on process and exemption guidance:
* [[Section22|Section 22]]: Information Intended For Future Publication
* [[Section23|Section 23]]: Information Supplied by, or Related to, Bodies Dealing with Security Matters
* [[Section24|Section 24]]: National Security
* [[Section26|Section 26]]: Defence
* [[Section27|Section 27]]: International Relations
* [[Section28|Section 28]]: Relations Within The United Kingdom
* [[Section29|Section 29]]: The Economy
* [[Section30|Section 30]]: Investigations And Proceedings Conducted By Public Authorities
* [[Section31|Section 31]]: Law Enforcement
* [[Section32|Section 32]]: Court Records
* [[Section33|Section 33]]: Audit Functions
* [[Section34|Section 34]]: Parliamentary Privilege
* [[Section35|Section 35]]: Formulation Of Government Policy
* [[Section36|Section 36]]: Prejudice to Effective Conduct of Public Affairs
* [[Section37|Section 37]]: Communications With Her Majesty, With Other Members Of The Royal Household, And The Conferring By The Crown Of Any Honour Or Dignity
* [[Section38|Section 38]]: Health And Safety
* [[Section39|Section 39]]: Environmental Information
* [[Section40|Section 40]]: Personal Information
* [[Section41|Section 41]]: Information Provided In Confidence
* [[Section42|Section 42]]: Legal Professional Privilege
* [[Section43|Section 43]]: Commercial Interests
* [[Section44|Section 44]]: Prohibitions On Disclosure


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Type
! UK Central Gov., England, Wales and NI
! Scotland
! Cross-border (NI/ROI)
|-
| General
| [[Freedom of Information Act 2000]]
| [[Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002]]
|
|-
|  Environmental
| [[Environmental Information Regulations 2004]]
| [[Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004]]
|
|-
| Geo-spatial data sets
| [[INSPIRE Regulations 2009]]
| [[INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009]]
|
|-
| Codes of practice
|&nbsp;
|&nbsp;
|[[North/South Bodies Freedom of Information Code of Practice]]
|}
FOIwiki also has pages on Freedom of Information in the [[Crown Dependencies]] (the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]], and [[Guernsey]]).


== Official guidance ==
== Official guidance ==


links to DCA, ICO, IT
* Information Commissioner Document Library: http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/document_library/freedom_of_information.aspx
* Scottish Information Commissioner guidance: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/FOISA-EIRsGuidance/Briefings.asp
* Ministry of Justice: Guidance for Public Authorities - http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/freedom-of-information.htm
* Defra Guidance on EIRs: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/opengov/eir/
 
== Make an FOI request ==


== Make a FOI request ==
[[WhatDoTheyKnow]] is an easy-to-use website that allows you to make FOI requests to over 15,000 public authorities.  All correspondence, including any information released by the public authority is automatically published on the website, for you to find and read.


http://www.whatdotheyknow.com
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com


WhatDoTheyKnow.com currently accounts for around 15% of all FOI requests made in the UK<sup>[http://www.mysociety.org/2011/07/01/whatdotheyknow’s-share-of-central-government-foi-requests-–-q2-2011/]</sup>


== Copyrights ==
{{Copyright}}
 
Some material published on this site is Crown Copyright, reproduced under the terms of the Click-Use Licence C2008001460.  Source of this material is:
 
* Department of Constitutional Affairs
* Information Commissioners Office.

Latest revision as of 16:24, 10 January 2015

FOIwiki - helping you unlock the secrets of UK Freedom of Information laws

FOIwiki is designed to help you ensure your Freedom of Information requests are fairly treated by Public Authorities. Often the Authority will misapply an Exemption to your request and not supply the information you're after. This site allows you to check the law and official guidance all in one place.

How FOI works

The Freedom of Information laws all roughly follow the same process, although there are some subtle differences:

  1. You make an information request to a public authority. The authority can ask you to clarify this.Normally the request won't cost you anything, but occasionally the authority may ask you to pay a fee to cover printing and postage or other costs
  2. within 20 working days the authority will normally either send you the information you asked for or will refuse to send it, claiming one or more exemptions that are allowed to them under the laws.
  3. for refusals, you can ask to the authority to reconsider the way your request was handled.
  4. if that doesn't work you also have the right to appeal to a tribunal/court.

the Law

Main article: access to information laws

The following rules apply to FOI requests in the UK. Follow the links for more details on process and exemption guidance:

Type UK Central Gov., England, Wales and NI Scotland Cross-border (NI/ROI)
General Freedom of Information Act 2000 Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Environmental Environmental Information Regulations 2004 Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Geo-spatial data sets INSPIRE Regulations 2009 INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009
Codes of practice     North/South Bodies Freedom of Information Code of Practice

FOIwiki also has pages on Freedom of Information in the Crown Dependencies (the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey).

Official guidance

Make an FOI request

WhatDoTheyKnow is an easy-to-use website that allows you to make FOI requests to over 15,000 public authorities. All correspondence, including any information released by the public authority is automatically published on the website, for you to find and read.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com

WhatDoTheyKnow.com currently accounts for around 15% of all FOI requests made in the UK[1]


Copyright notice