Any request for information held by/on behalf of a public authority or a body carrying
out a public function is technically an FOI request in the first instance. Section 39 of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (FOI) then exempts environmental information from being dealt with under the
FOI Act and provides it should be dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
If
it is determined that part/all of the information requested is personal information, where the applicant
is the subject of the information, access to that information will be dealt with under the Data Protection
Act 1998.
In effect the three pieces of legislation work together, the Environmental
Information Regulations enabling access to environmental information, the Data Protection Act 1998 enabling
access to personal information of which the applicant is the subject, and the Freedom of Information
Act enabling access to all other information.
