Code of Practice on Access to Government Information
Section A About the code
- The Code of Practice on Access
to Government Information came into effect in 1994 and
was revised in February 1997.
The Department is committed,
under the Code, to provide, in response to requests, information
falling within its areas of responsibility. The Department
aims at maximum openness under the Code, subject to legitimate
demands of confidentiality and privacy.
The Code does not:
- Provide an access right to individual
documents (although these may be supplied)
- Provide unlimited access to
all Government information
- Require the Department to acquire
new information
- Require the Department to provide
free, information for which there is normally a charge
In January 2005 the access right provided by the Code will be superseded
by a statutory right to information provided by the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
The Department is committed to making a large volume of information proactively
available under a publication scheme drawn up under
the Freedom of Information Act with effect from 30 November
2002.
Exemptions
As recognised by the
Code, there are certain classes or items of information
which it would not be in the public interest for the Department
to disclose. Examples include commercial information about
individual companies, information relating to law enforcement
and information which relates to defence, security or international
relations. Part ll of the Code sets out a list of information
which is exempt from disclosure. If the material you seek
falls within one or more of the categories on this list,
the Department may decline to disclose the information you
seek. Section B explains how to appeal against any decision
not to supply information.
Section B Appeals procedure
This section sets out
the procedures that the Department has established to consider
appeals arising from our operation of the Code.
If we decide not to send
you the information you want we will tell you why we think
it is exempt from disclosure and in which exempt category
of information we consider it to be. The exempt categories
of information are listed in the Code.
If you disagree with
our decision you should ask the person who has written to
you to look again at your application. You should tell them
your reasons for questioning their decision. If it is considered
that information should still be withheld, your appeal will
be considered by the officer with overall command of that
area of policy within the Department.
If you are dissatisfied
with the result of your appeal you may ask a Member of Parliament
to refer your case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. He is
an independent officer of Parliament who has the power to
see the Department's papers relevant to your request for
information. He will test the decisions we make against
the Code of Practice.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman
may be contacted at:
Office of the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Administration
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel 020 7217 3000
You may also use the
appeals procedure if you think that a response has taken
too long to come or if you think you have been charged too
much. There is no charge for using the appeals procedure.
Section C Charges
Where applications for
information will cause us a significant amount of work we
may need to charge you. We will write to you before any
work is started and give you an estimate of the cost. If
you decide to go ahead with your application, once we have
received payment we will start the work. If it does not
cost as much as the estimate we will make a refund to you.
If it costs more we will send the information already extracted
and will ask for an additional payment if you want the work
to be completed. There will be no charge if the information
you have asked for costs less than £100 to supply.
If you have paid for work to be done and it is decided that
the information cannot be released we will refund your money.
Some of DTI's Executive
Agencies operate their own charging policies. Details are
available on request.
More Information
If you have any questions
about how the Department operates the Code contact our Open
Government and Data Protection Unit (tel 020 7215 0029,
fax 020 7215 5713).
Requests for information
held by DTI should be addressed to the Enquiry Unit, Department
of Trade and Industry, Room LG94, 1 Victoria Street, London
SW1H 0ET (tel 020 7215 5000). Your request will be forwarded
to the DTI Directorate with policy responsibility for the
information you are seeking.
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