Which Public Authorities are covered by the Freedom of Information Act?
The Freedom of Information Act applies to information that is held by a public authority and sets out which bodies and offices are considered public authorities for the purpose of the Act: • government departments (this includes Non Departmental Government Bodies); • Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the National Assembly for Wales; • the armed forces (but not Special Forces or units working with Government Communications Headquarters); • local authorities; • NHS bodies; • the Police; • other bodies and Offices such as regulators and advisory committees; • Wholly Owned Companies; and • some bodies are only covered for certain sorts of information such as the BBC and Channel 4; Other bodies not listed in the Act can be brought under the Act by a section 4 or section 5 order, these are laid by the Ministry of Justice. If you wish to find out if a particular body is covered by the Act you should contact the Ministry of Justice who have responsibility for coverage. A basic guid
