Combined Section 15/16 Manual of the Standards Commission

1.1 Introduction - Freedom of Information Acts

The Freedom of Information Act 1997, established three new statutory rights:

• the right of access to information held by public bodies;
• the right to have personal information held by a public body amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading;
• the right to information regarding acts of public bodies affecting the person concerned.

The following records come within the scope of the Act:

• all records relating to personal information irrespective of when created;
• all other records created from the commencement date of the Act i.e. 21 April 1998;
• any other records necessary to the understanding of a current record;
• personnel records of serving staff created from 21 April 1995 and those created prior to that date where they are being used or proposed to be used in a way which adversely affects or may affect the person involved.

The Freedom of Information Act 1997, was amended by the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003. These are collectively referred to throughout this reference manual as the FOI Acts.

Section 15 requires the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Standards Commission) (as a public body included in the First Schedule to the FOI Acts) to publish a manual to facilitate access to official information held by it by outlining its structure and organisation, its functions, powers and duties, the nature of the documentation held by it and the process by which requests for information can be made.

Section 16 requires the Standards Commission to prepare and publish information on the rules, procedures, practices, guidelines, interpretations and precedents which the public may expect under any enactment or scheme operated by the Standards Commission in the areas of decisions, determinations or recommendations, together with appropriate information in relation to the manner or intended manner of administration of any such enactment or scheme.

The Standards Commission has decided to publish a combined section 15 and 16 Manual. The Manual is divided into 5 Parts as follows:

Part 1 provides an overview of the Standards Commission and the legislation it supervises and provides details of how an FOI request may be made to the Standards Commission.

Part 2 provides details of the requirements of the Ethics Acts, the supervisory functions assigned to the Standards Commission under this legislation and details of the administrative practices used and the records obtained by the Standards Commission in carrying out its functions under the Ethics Acts.

Part 3 provides details of the requirements of the Electoral Acts, the supervisory functions assigned to the Standards Commission under this legislation and details of the administrative practices used and the records obtained by the Standards Commission in carrying out its functions under the Electoral Acts.

Part 4 provides details of the requirements of the Party Leaders Allowance legislation, the supervisory functions assigned to the Standards Commission under this legislation and details of the administrative practices used and the records obtained by the Standards Commission in carrying out its functions under the Party Leaders Allowance legislation.

Part 5 provides details of general records held by the Standards Commission.

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