Amendments proposed to the Freedom of Information Bill, As Amended - continued	House of Commons
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Duty to assist

   

Mr Mark Fisher
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) A public authority shall take all reasonable steps to assist any person in seeking to exercise any right under this Act.

    (2) For the purpose of subsection (1) a public authority shall have regard to any relevant guidance contained in the code of practice issued under section 44.'.

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Duty to give reasons

   

Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) A public authority to which this section applies shall, within 20 working days of making any decision or recommendation which materially affects any person, give to that person a written statement setting out—

(a) the reasons for its decision or recommendation, and

(b) any material findings on which its decision or recommendation was based.

    (2) A public authority is not required by subsection (1) to disclose any exempt information unless the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

    (3) The public authorities to which this section applies are—

(a) any public authority in respect of which an investigation may be made by:

    (i) the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Welsh Administration Ombudsman;

    (ii) the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (or the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Northern Ireland); or

    (iii) the Health Service Commissioner for England, the Health Service Commissioner for Scotland, or, in respect of health service bodies in Northern Ireland, the Commissioner for Complaints; and

(b) any other public authority which has been notified in writing by the Information Commissioner that it is subject to the provisions of this section.'.

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Power to remove exemptions by order

   

Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) The Secretary of State may by order provide that—

(a) information of such description as may be specified in the order is not exempt by virtue of any provision of this Act as may be specified in the order;

(b) any provision of this Act specified in the order by virtue of which information is exempt shall be repealed or shall apply only in relation to information of the description specified in the order;

(c) any provision of this Act specified in the order by virtue of which the duty to confirm or deny does not arise shall be repealed or shall apply only in relation to such information, or in such circumstances, as may be specified in the order.

    (2) An order under this section may make different provision for different cases.

    (3) No order shall be made under this section unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.'.

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Information already disclosed

   

Mr Richard Shepherd
Mr David Davis

NC7

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) Information is not exempt information if it is substantially similar to any disclosed information.

    (2) In this section "disclosed information" means any information which has been lawfully disclosed in accordance with the provisions of any statutory or other scheme requiring or authorising the disclosure of information within any administration in the United Kingdom, but does not include personal data relating to the individual to whom it was disclosed.

    (3) In this section "administration in the United Kingdom" has the same meaning as in section 26.'.

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Extension of meaning of "data subject"

   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins

NC8

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) Section 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (basic interpretative provisions) is amended in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).

    (2) In the definition of "data subject", after the word "individual" there is inserted "or company".

    (3) The definition of "personal data" is omitted and the following words are inserted—

""personal data" means data which relate to—

    (a) a living individual, or

    (b) a company (but only where those data are held by a public authority),

where the individual or the company can be identified from those data, or from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller, and includes any expression of opinion about the individual or company and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.".'

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Notification of third parties

   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) Where a request for information is received by a public authority and that information relates to a third party's commercial interests the public authority shall—

(a) without delay notify the third party of the request for information and the extent and nature of the information relating to the request and give the third party a reasonable opportunity to make representations regarding whether the information requested falls under an exemption as listed in Part II; and

(b) have due regard to any such representations before discharging the duty to confirm or deny and before communicating the information or giving a notice under section 15.

    (2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—

(a) "third party" means anyone other than the person making the request of any public authority; and

(b) information shall be taken as relating to a third party's interests if that person provided the information to the public authority, is identified in the information and is reasonably likely to be affected (at any time) by disclosure of the information or of its existence.

    (3) Where, after due regard has been given to any representation made in accordance with subsection (1), a public authority is to any extent not relying on a claim that information is exempt information in reaching its decision, the public authority must, without delay, give the third party a notice which—

(a) states that fact;

(b) specifies the exemption in question; and

(c) states why the exemption does not apply.'.

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Duty to publish manuals etc.

   

Mr Richard Shepherd
Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Dr Tony Wright
Mr Mark Fisher

NC10

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1) A public authority to which this section applies shall, subject to subsection (2), publish any manuals, instructions, precedents and guidelines used by it for the purpose of—

(a) interpreting any enactment, or

(b) administering any scheme for which the authority is responsible.

    (2) A public authority is not required by subsection (1) to publish any exempt information unless the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

    (3) The public authorities to which this section applies are—

(a) any public authority in respect of which an investigation may be made by:

    (i) the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Welsh Administration Ombudsman

    (ii) the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (or the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Northern Ireland)

    (iii) the Health Service Commissioner for England; the Health Service Commissioner for Scotland; or, in respect of health service bodies in Northern Ireland, the Commissioner for Complaints

(b) any other public authority which has been notified in writing by the Information Commissioner that it is subject to the provisions of this section.'.

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Information Ombudsman and Parliamentary Information Committee   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr David Lidington
Mr Nick Hawkins

NC11

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1) There shall be an officer of the House of Commons called the Information Ombudsman, who shall be appointed by the House of Commons.

    (2) There shall be a committee of the House of Commons appointed, to be called the Parliamentary Information Committee.

    (3) In this Act the Information Ombudsman is known as "the Ombudsman".'.

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Mr Robert Maclennan
Mr David Heath
Mr Richard Shepherd

36

Title,     line     3,     after '1998' insert ', the Official Secrets Act 1989'.

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Prepared 5 Apr 2000