NOTICES OF AMENDMENTS
given up to and including
Friday 31st March 2000
New Amendments handed in are marked thus *
CONSIDERATION OF BILL
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, AS AMENDED
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order to be proposed by Mr Secretary Straw.
Mr Secretary Straw
To move, That the Freedom of Information Bill, as amended, be considered in the following order, namely, amendments relating to Clauses 1 and 2, Schedule 1, Clauses 3 to 16, Schedule 2, Clauses 17 to 54, Schedule 3, Clauses 55 to 60, Schedule 4, Clauses 61 to 66, Schedule 5, Clauses 67 to 72, Schedule 6, Clauses 73 to 84, Schedule 7, Clauses 85 and 86, new Clauses and new Schedules.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
100
Page 1, line 7 [Clause 1], at end insert—
'.—(A1) The purpose of this Act is to facilitate public access to information held by public authorities.'.
Mr Secretary Straw
44
Page 1, line 15 [Clause 1], leave out subsection (3) and insert—
'(3) Where a public authority—
(a) reasonably requires further information in order to identify and locate the information requested, and
(b) has informed the applicant of that requirement,
the authority is not obliged to comply with subsection (1) unless it is supplied with that further information.'.
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Richard Shepherd
33
Page 4 [Clause 6], leave out lines 12 and 13.
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Richard Shepherd
34
Page 4, line 14 [Clause 6], leave out 'or amending'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
102
Page 5, line 23 [Clause 9], after 'subsection', insert '(1A) or'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
103
Page 5, line 25 [Clause 9], at end insert—
'(1A) Where the authority has notified a third party in accordance with section (Notification of third parties) that it has received a request for information which relates to the third party's commercial interests, the third party shall have a period of 10 working days to make representations in accordance with section (Notification of third parties) (1)(a), and that period of 10 days shall be disregarded in calculating for the purposes of subsection (1) the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.'.
Mr Secretary Straw
45
Page 5, line 34 [Clause 9], after 'day', insert ', not later than the sixtieth working day following the date of receipt,'.
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd
1
Page 7, line 13 [Clause 13], leave out from 'authority' to end of line 34 and insert 'which is to any extent exempt or whose disclosure is not required by virtue of section 11.'.
Mr Secretary Straw
46
Page 7, line 18 [Clause 13], leave out from '(2),' to end of line 19.
Mr Harry Cohen
107
Page 7, line 28 [Clause 13], leave out from 'section' to end of line 31 and insert '38(1)'.
Mr Secretary Straw
47
Page 7, line 35 [Clause 13], leave out subsections (3) to (5) and insert—
'(3) Where the duty to confirm or deny does not arise but it appears to the public authority that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing the fact that the authority does or does not hold information of the description specified in the request outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question, the authority shall inform the applicant whether it holds the information.
(4) Where—
(a) the public authority holds information of the description specified in the request and has informed, or intends to inform, the applicant that it does so, and
(b) it appears to the authority that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question,
the public authority shall communicate the information to the applicant.'.
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd
2
Page 7, line 36 [Clause 13], leave out from 'whether' to 'to' in line 37.
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd
3
Page 7, line 42 [Clause 13], leave out from 'whether' to first 'to' in line 43.
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd
4
Page 8, line 2 [Clause 13], leave out from 'shall' to end of line 5 and insert—
'(a) inform the applicant whether it holds information, and
(b) communicate the information to him,'.
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd
7
Page 8, line 8 [Clause 13], leave out subsection (6).
Mr Secretary Straw
48
Page 8, line 10 [Clause 13], leave out 'also have regard to the desirability of' and insert 'in particular have regard to the public interest in'.
Mr Secretary Straw
49
Page 8, line 13 [Clause 13], leave out from beginning to 'within' and insert 'A public authority must comply with this section'.
Mr Secretary Straw
50
Page 8, line 18 [Clause 14], leave out 'in pursuance of a decision'.
Mr Secretary Straw
51
Page 8, line 20 [Clause 14], leave out 'in pursuance of a decision'.
Mr Secretary Straw
52
Page 8, line 35 [Clause 15], leave out from 'that' to 'or' in line 36 and insert 'by virtue of any provision of Part II the duty to confirm or deny does not arise'.
Mr Secretary Straw
53
Page 9, line 1 [Clause 15], leave out from 'which' to end of line 4 and insert—
'(a) decides under section 13(3) that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing the fact that the authority does or does not hold information of the description specified in a request for information does not outweigh the public interest in maintaining an exemption, or
(b) decides under section 13(4) that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing any information does not outweigh the public interest in maintaining an exemption,'.
Mr Secretary Straw
54
Page 9, line 21 [Clause 15], at end insert—
'(7) A notice under subsection (1), (3) or (5) must—
(a) contain particulars of any procedure provided by the public authority for dealing with complaints about the handling of requests for information or state that the authority does not provide such a procedure, and
(b) contain particulars of the right conferred by section 50.'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
110
*Page 9, line 22, leave out Clause 16.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
111
*Page 56, line 13, leave out Schedule 2.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
113
*Page 10, line 4 [Clause 17], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
114
*Page 10, line 22 [Clause 17], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
115
*Page 10, line 24 [Clause 17], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
114
*Page 10, line 28 [Clause 17], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
117
*Page 10, line 32 [Clause 17], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
118
*Page 10, line 37 [Clause 18], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
119
*Page 10, line 39 [Clause 18], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins
120
*Page 10, line 41 [Clause 18], leave out 'Commissioner' and insert 'Ombudsman'.
