What public functions were exempted from the extension of the RRA?
The main functions exempted and the justification for each is as follows: • Both Houses of Parliament (this does not affect their existing coverage, e.g. for employment purposes), and proceedings in Parliament. This exemption reflects the sovereignty of Parliament and issues of Parliamentary Privilege. • Core functions of the intelligence and security agencies (this does not affect their existing coverage, e.g. for employment purposes). To have included the intelligence and security agencies within the RR(A)A would have required changes with special clauses introduced to safeguard against claimants misusing certain provisions to undermine the agencies’ operational effectiveness. For example, to prevent a claimant using a section 65 questionnaire to fish for sensitive information. The necessary safeguards would have had, in practice, the same effect as excluding the agencies from the RR(A)A. The Government felt it was better to make the exemption clear rather than obscured behind specia
