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Letters to Regulatory Directors
RD 22/04 18 November 2004 Dear Regulatory DirectorFREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 From 1 January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) comes fully into operation. We have a responsibility under the FOIA to provide information in response to any written request, normally within 20 working days, subject to a number of exemptions set out in the FOIA. We promote an open and transparent approach to regulation. We believe it is in the public interest to make available a substantial amount of information, mainly through our website. We hope to be able to respond positively to most requests for information. The FOIA provides a number of absolute and public interest exemptions. We will apply these as appropriate to protect the public interest. Defra have told us that the statutory bar on the provision of information to third parties in s206 of the Water Industry Act 1991 will be amended or repealed to coincide with the full implementation of the FOIA on 1 January 2005. Sections 41 and 43 of the FOIA give exemptions for information that is provided in confidence (where disclosure would be an actionable breach of confidence) or that is likely to prejudice commercial interests. Disclosure of information, previously considered commercially sensitive, could take place if it was believed that the public interest in disclosing it outweighs the public interest in non-disclosure. For example an individual or organisation may send a request to us for information about your company. If disclosed the information would be likely to prejudice your commercial interests, we will apply the public interest test. Currently some information supplied by you to us is marked commercial in confidence. The fact that a document is marked commercial in confidence does not give an automatic exemption against disclosure. Where we receive a request for information that you have provided, that is not currently in the public domain, if we:
Their websites are:
2. Information Commissioner's Office – www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk The section 41 or section 43 exemptions are not the only exemptions that may apply to information supplied by companies to us. Each request submitted to us will be judged on its own merits. If we decide not to release the particular information requested and the applicant is unhappy with our decision, he or she should in the first instance use our internal review mechanism. If, after carrying out an internal review, the original decision is upheld, then the individual has a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner. We will be creating an FOIA section on our website setting out our processes under the FOIA, including our processes for handling requests. The section will include a disclosure log listing information disclosed under FOIA and subsequently included on our website or in our publication scheme. In our Annual Report we will summarise the FOIA workload and any lessons learnt. We are currently considering our approach to the updated Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs), which will also be implemented on 1 January 2005. We will keep you informed on progress. If you have any questions regarding Ofwat's approach to the FOIA, please contact Paula Bennett on 01216251417 or paula.bennett@ofwat.gsi.gov.uk. Yours sincerely ROGER DUNSHEA Director of Operations  |
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