EXEMPTIONS TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
There are two types of exemptions referred to in the Act, absolute and qualified exemptions. If a qualified exemption applies to the information sought the Council is required to apply the public interest test in deciding whether to supply or withhold the information sought. Below is a summary of the exemptions relevant to the Council.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 - Exemptions
There are 23 exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, only 16 apply to the information held by local authorities (the remainder are specific to central government).
In 11 of the 16 exemptions that apply, Horsham District Council must consider the public interest in providing the information, as against withholding the information. This involves a consideration of the circumstances of each particular case and the relevant exemptions. The information may only be withheld if the public interest in withholding it is greater than the public interest in releasing it.
The following list outlines the exemptions that will apply to information held by the Council. The section numbers at the end of the titles refer to the section of the Freedom of Information Act that applies.
Absolute Exemptions
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Information accessible to applicants by other means (Section 21
This will most commonly be information that is included in the Council’s Publication Scheme. -
Court records (Section 32)
This includes information contained in documents served for the purposes of legal proceedings filed with a court, or held by a person conducting an inquiry or arbitration. -
Personal information (Section 40)
This concerns information about the person making the request and will be dealt with as a Subject Access Request under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. -
Information provided in confidence (Section 41)
This applies if releasing the information would amount to an actionable breach of confidence. -
Legal prohibitions on disclosure (Section 44)
This applies to information the disclosure of which is prohibited by legislation, or is incompatible with an European Community obligation, or if the disclosure would be a contempt of court.
Qualified Exemptions Subject to a Public Interest Test -
Information intended for future publication (Section 22)
This applies where the Council plans to publish the information in the future, and it is reasonable, at the time of the request, not to disclose it immediately. We would be expected to provide an indication of the publication date. -
Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities (Section 30)
This covers information relevant to criminal investigations and criminal/civil proceedings. -
Law enforcement (Section 31)
This applies to a wide range of investigations and the conduct of law enforcement, for example, information that would prejudice the prevention or detection of a crime. -
Audit (Section 33)
Relates to information held by the Council in respect of audits carried out on other public authorities if disclosure is likely to prejudice those functions. -
Prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs (Section 36)
For information (other than statistical information) to be exempt under this section it must, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, be capable of prejudicing or inhibiting the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views or the effective conduct of public affairs. -
The honours list (Section 37)
This relates to communications regarding the conferring of honours. -
Health and safety (Section 38)
This exemption applies to information that would, or would be likely to endanger the physical or mental health and safety of any individual. -
Environmental information (Section 39)
This section operates as a gateway to the Environmental Information Regulations introduced to implement the provisions of the Aarhus Convention. -
Personal information (Section 40)
Requests for personal information about someone other than the applicant themselves (third party request) will be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act, but the 8 principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 will be used to determine whether the request will be satisfied. -
Legal professional privilege (Section 42)
This applies where a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings. -
Commercial interests (Section 43)
This exemption applies to trade secrets and information, the disclosure of which would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interest of any person, including the Council itself.