Access to RA Information

The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information

The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information came into effect in 1994 and was revised in February 1997.
The Agency is committed, under the Code, to provide, in response to requests, information falling within its areas of responsibility. The Agency 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 Agency to acquire new information
Require the Agency to provide free, information for which there is normally a charge.

Exemptions

As recognised by the Code, there are certain classes or items of information that it would not be in the public interest for the Agency 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 that is exempt from disclosure. If the material you seek falls within one or more of the categories on this list, the Agency may decline to disclose the information you seek. Section B explains how to appeal against any decision not to supply information.

Appeals procedure

This section sets out the procedures that the Agency 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 the Agency considers that information should still be withheld, your appeal will be considered by the Director who has overall responsibility for that area of policy within the Agency.

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 Agency'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.

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 will not cost as much as the estimate we will make a refund to you. If it will cost 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.

Freedom of Information Act (FOI)

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 Agency 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.

More information

If you have any questions about how the Agency operates the Code, or on the FOI publication scheme, please contact the RA Information and Publicity Manager (tel 020 7211 0500, fax 020 7211 0507, email: julia.fraser@ra.gsi.gov.uk.

Requests for information held by RA should also be addressed to the Information and Publicity Manager. She will pass your request to the relevant official within the Agency with policy responsibility for the information you are seeking.