Civil Servants

7. Disclosure of information

7.1 All civil servants should ensure that they deal with queries from members of the public in an open and helpful way. Under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 (FOI Acts), members of the public enjoy a legal right of access to information held by Government Departments/Offices and other public bodies, subject to certain exemptions defined in the FOI Acts. Arising from the FOI Acts, certain officers are given explicit responsibility for the provision of information to members of the public on foot of requests under the FOI Acts. Civil servants should take particular care to inform themselves about the FOI procedures applying in their Departments/Offices.

7.2 Particular care should be taken to safeguard information concerning the private affairs of members of the public or concerning the commercial affairs of companies or organisations which has been submitted in connection with official business on condition, or on the reasonable assumption, that it would remain confidential. The FOI Acts recognise the importance of protecting such information in the normal course from third party access. Where exceptionally sensitive information of a personal, commercially sensitive or confidential nature is under consideration for release in the public interest, the FOI Acts impose a number of safeguards to ensure the rights of the person(s) concerned are fully respected.

7.3 It remains a requirement under the Official Secrets Act 1963 that all civil servants, including those who are retired or on a career break, avoid improper disclosure of information gained in the course of their official work. For example, disclosure of information would be likely to be improper where a person has not been given responsibility to provide information to the public under the FOI Acts, or is not otherwise authorised to do so.

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