Any official information held by Roads Service can be sought under the Act. However,
certain information is exempt and these are set out in the legislation. The absolute exemptions are:
- information
reasonably accessible to the public by other means
- information directly or indirectly
supplied to the public authority by certain bodies dealing with security matters, including GCHQ and
the Security Service
- Court and associated records
- information
subject to Parliamentary privilege
- information held by either House of Parliament
whose disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs
- personal
information where the applicant is the data subject or, in some circumstances, the data relates to another
individual
- information provided in confidence
- information prohibited
from disclosure under other laws, obligations or where it would involve a contempt of court
Where
exemptions are not absolute exemptions they can only be relied upon by the public authority if the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in the disclosure of the information.
The exemptions subject to these rules include:
- information intended
for future publication
- information other than that falling within Section 23, which
is required for safeguarding national security
- information likely to prejudice the
defence of the British Isles, any colony or the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces
They also cover information which would prejudice or be likely to prejudice
the economic interests of the UK; that which would prejudice or be likely to prejudice certain law enforcement
matters; legal professional privilege and trade secrets or information which would or would be likely
to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the holding public authority).
