About Freedom of Information
Learn about the Freedom of Information Act, how it works and what exemptions apply.
What is the Freedom of Information Act?
Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), people have a right to know access information about the activities of public authorities. This includes The National Archives.
Under this act, you have the right to see:
- information in our archives that was transferred to us from other government departments
- information that applies to our own administrative records
What does Freedom of Information apply to?
Freedom of Information applies to information whatever its age, and whether it is at The National Archives or still held by the originating government department.
Information is assumed to be open from the time it is created, unless one of the exemptions set out in the Freedom of Information Act applies.
There are separate Environmental Information Regulations giving similar rights of access to environmental information.
What are exemptions?
The exemptions set out in the Freedom of Information Act allow public bodies to withhold information if needed.
These exemptions are:
- clearly defined in the Freedom of Information Act
- limited in number
- usually used where some harm might result if the information were to be released
Which public bodies are covered by Freedom of Information?
The legislation covers a wide range of public sector bodies, including government departments, non-departmental public bodies and more. A full list is in Schedule I to the Act.
Freedom of Information does not apply to information held by the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Special Forces, or any unit or part-unit assisting GCHQ.
Does the Act cover the whole of the UK?
The Act applies to England and Wales, to Northern Ireland, and to information held by UK-wide authorities.
It applies to authorities in Scotland only when they are exercising UK-wide functions.
Information held by the Scottish Parliament and Administration is covered by the Scottish Freedom of Information Act 2002.