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Introduction to exemptions

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Chapter 03: What are exemptions?

The FOI Act provides new and fully enforceable rights of access to information held by all public authorities. The FOI Act is designed to enable individuals to access even more information than they could before.

There are 23 exemptions from the rights of access under the FOI Act. These exemptions mark out the limits of the right of access to information under the FOI Act. If information is properly exempt then there is no right of access to it under the Act.

All the exemptions operate in different ways and, when applying individual exemptions, officials may need to consider the following factors:

The content of the information;
The effect that disclosure would have (for example, on national security or international relations)
The source of the information
The purpose for which the information was recorded

But the Act also recognises that the disclosure of certain categories of information may, at the particular time of the request, be harmful to the wider public interest,

for example:

where disclosure might be harmful to an important public interest, such as national security or international relations;
where disclosure is prohibited by statute;
where responding to the request might involve providing personal information about other individuals; or
where disclosure might breach a duty of confidentiality.

Because the Act strikes a balance between different, and important, interests, a decision to withhold or release information will itself require a careful balancing act. Access to information legislation is about providing the framework within which decisions can be made on where the balance of public interest lies on the release or withholding of information on a case by case basis.

The Act therefore contains a number of exemptions to the general right of access. The exemptions ensure that decisions to release or withhold information are taken with the interest of the public as a whole firmly to the fore.

The table at Annex A lists all the exemptions covered by the FOI: Exemptions Guidance. It will be necessary to pay careful attention to the nature and features of an exemption when considering its application.

The exemptions are listed in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Exemptions referred to in this Introduction to Exemptions are either absolute or qualified.

Absolute exemptions: if an absolute exemption applies there is no obligation under the Act to consider the request for information further.
Qualified exemptions: are subject to the public interest test. Qualified exemptions do not justify withholding information unless, following a proper assessment, the balance of the public interest comes down against disclosure.
In both cases it is vital to ensure that you provide an informative response to the applicant explaining clearly why it is that the information that they have requested cannot be provided.

There may be procedural reasons for refusing a request for information. For example if the request is vexatious or repeated, or if the cost of complying with the request would exceed the cost limit then the request may not have to be complied with. This Introduction and the Exemptions Guidance do not address procedural reasons for refusing a request under the Freedom of Information Act. For guidance on processing requests you should refer to Freedom of Information: Guidance on Processing Requests.