Sorry Roger, but requests for environmental information have to be dealt
with under the EIR, not the FoI. One of the "exemptions" from the FoI
is the EIR. That's what is meant by subsidiary.
Cheers,
Neil
>>> [log in to unmask] 08/10/2004 15:26:37 >>>
I don't think this is quite right. The Freedom of Information Act 2000
is just that - an Act of Parliament (a statute) and therefore primary -
not 'subsidiary' - legislation. Other statutes and Statutory Instruments
will not override the FOIA as a matter of course.
How the particular provisions of the FOIA relate to those of other
legislation (such as the EIR), however, is another matter.
Roger
-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Sites & Monuments Records on behalf of Neil
Campling
Sent: Thu 07/10/2004 14:22
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information Act
Dear All,
The FoI Act is subsidiary legislation: other legislation or
Statutory
Instruments, such as the DPA, over-ride the FOI. Therefore, one
of the
exemptions of data from the procedures of the FoI Act is the
EIR.
Please note the 1992 EIR will be replaced by the EIR 2004. As
noted
yesterday, the Statutory Instrument is currently in draft form
and will
be modified as and how we respond to the Code of Practice. But
that
does not mean that we won't have to record rrequests for
information,
just that we have to do it under the new EIR, not the FoI Act.
cheers,
Neil
>>> [log in to unmask] 07/10/2004 09:43:30 >>>
Many thanks for all the comments. Very useful. As I feared
nothing is
ever
straight forward...
Pete - Not sure. I think FoIA probably does override the 1998
Environmental
Information (Amendment) Regulations, but would need to check
My planning colleagues recently asked for guidance on certain
issues,
Including pre-planning application enquiries, and were told by
the FOI
office:
The weighting of the FOIA is always in favour of disclosure and
authorities
should think very carefully before applying any exemption. The
access
code
in section 45 of the Act does advise:
and
although there may well be cases in which it is right for
authorities
to
declare information exempt under section 41, to avoid any
actionable
breach
of confidence, it is not a judgement that should be taken
lightly.
Our HER is included in our local authority Publication Scheme
and it
is
interesting to note Emma that you say that inclusion in the
scheme
means
that HER information is not subject to FOI enquiries as the
resource
is
reasonably accessible. I have asked for clarification on the
issue of
whether all enquiries for HER information from 1st Jan have to
be
recorded
on our corporate FOI enquiry database or whether we continue to
record
them
as now. How do we know whether an enquiry comes under the FOI
Act and
does
it really matter, as the HER is accessible anyway?
Perhaps we could have an update on this issue at the next HER
Forum
meeting?
Thanks
Jill
Jill Collens
Project Leader - Historic Environment
+Environmental Planning
Cheshire County Council
Backford Hall
Backford
Chester CH1 6PZ
(01244 603204
:[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Iles, Peter [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 October 2004 14:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information Act
Jill - does this new Act override the 1992 Environmental
Information
Regulations? under those regs I belive the following may be
true:
In Section 4 information MAY be not be disclosed if (a) it
relates to
the
subject of any legal or other proceedings, actual or prospective
(inc.
Local
Planning Enquiries); (b) it relates to confidential, internal
communications
of the County Council; (c) it is contained in a document or
other
record
which is still in the course of completion. (This latter begs
the
question, when is an SMR complete?)
Information MUST not be disclosed if (a) it was supplied to the
County
Council by another party who was under no legal obligation to do
so
and
could not have been put under any legal obligation to supply it
and has
not
consented to its disclosure; (b) its disclosure would increase
the
likelihood of damage to the environment affecting anything to
which
the
information relates.
In Section 3.3 if the request is manifestly unreasonable or is
formulated in
too general a manner it may also be refused.
Peter Iles
Specialist Advisor (Archaeology)
Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate
PO Box 9
Guild House
Cross Street
Preston
PR1 8RD
T 01772 531550
F 01772 533423
E [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: COLLENS, Jill [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 October 2004 10:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Freedom of Information Act
Dear all
I have a query about the Freedom of Information Act which comes
into
force
on 1/1/05 and its implications for HERs. I know we discussed
this a
few
years ago at the SMR User Group, but here in Cheshire the
authority is
very
busy informing staff about the implications. Whilst the
provision of
data is
all part of the HER role, I am a little concerned about some of
the
messages
that are coming back from our service and corporate Records
Management
Officers regarding charging for commercial enquiries (I'm told
you can
only
charge one tenth of your normal rate which makes it uneconomic
to
charge at
all), also if anyone requests a copy of all of the data in the
HER then
I am
told we have to provide it.
I anyone else getting similar messages and how will the FOIA
affect the
NMR?
Thanks
Jill
Dr Jill Collens
Project Leader - Historic Environment
+Environmental Planning
Cheshire County Council
Backford Hall
Backford
Chester CH1 6PZ
(01244 603204
:[log in to unmask]
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