Law abroad: UK’s Freedom of Information Act extended

The scope of the UK’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act has been extended. Thus, from 2013, government records will be made available at the National Archives ten years sooner, reducing the 30-year rule to a 20-year rule.

The Examination Boards, Harbour Authorities, the Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation will also now be included in the scope of the Act. This follows a commitment from the government to extend it to include the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the University and Colleges Admissions Service which will fall within the Act's scope.

The changes will also reduce the time some types of information, including information contained in court records, ministerial correspondence and policy formulation, may be withheld.

"We will conduct a process of post-legislative scrutiny of the FOI Act to see how well the Act is working in practice and whether further changes should be made," said Kenneth Clarke, the UK’s secretary of state for justice.

However, measures to enhance the protection for information relating to communications with the royal family and royal household have also been taken, specifically correspondence, documents  and information relating to the sovereign – Elizabeth II, heir to the throne – her son Prince Charles or second in line to the throne – Prince William. This amendment to the FOI Act is necessary to protect the long-standing conventions surrounding the monarchy and its records, said Clarke.