Which bodies are subject to the Environmental Information Regulations?
The Freedom of Information Act includes a list of public authorities that it covers, working out whether a body is subject to the Environmental Information Regulations is much more difficult.
Legal definition
"public authority" means -
(a) government departments;
(b) any other public authority as defined in section 3(1) of the Act, disregarding for this purpose the exceptions in paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Act, but excluding -
(i) any body or office-holder listed in Schedule 1 to the Act only in relation to information of a specified description; or
(ii) any person designated by Order under section 5 of the Act;
(c) any other body or other person, that carries out functions of public administration; or
(d) any other body or other person, that is under the control of a person falling within sub-paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) and -
(i) has public responsibilities relating to the environment;
(ii) exercises functions of a public nature relating to the environment; or
(iii) provides public services relating to the environment.
Public administration
In the Port of London case, one of the issues the Tribunal considered was whether the PLA constituted a public authority for the purposes of regulation 2(2)(c) EIR. The Commissioner put forward the following factors, which he considered were to be taken into account: :
- whether the functions exercised by the ‘public authority’ are typically governmental in nature;
- whether the functions of the body in question form part of a statutory scheme of regulation;
- whether, if those functions did not exist, some governmental provision would need to be made for the exercise of those functions;
- whether the organisation has a statutory basis, or whether it exists purely as a matter of contract; and
- whether the organisation is accountable to members or shareholders, or to government.
The Information Tribunal found this list “helpful”.[1]