What is Freedom of Information?
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives the public the right of access to
all recorded information held by all public authorities. Subject to certain
exemptions, any person who makes a request to the University for information,
must be informed, within 20 days whether the University holds that information
and if so that information must be supplied (subject to any exemptions).
The Freedom of Information Act complements the Data Protection Act 1998, which
gives individuals access to personal information held about them by the University.
The University may decide that some information it holds could be regarded as
exempt information under the Act. Where a request is made for information which
includes exemptions the University will consider:
a) The prejudice test: Some exemptions can only be claimed if the release of
information would or would be likely to prejudice
the purpose to which the exemption relates, and
b) The public interest test: Does the public interest in maintaining the exemption
in question outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information to the
requestor?
There are 23 exemptions under the Act, some exemptions where the public interest
test applies, and others which are absolute exemptions. The full list of exemptions
can be found here.
Further guidance on the Freedom of Information Act 2000 can be found on the
Information Commissioner's webpages. Click .