Which organisations are public authorities covered by the Freedom of Information Act?
If an organisation is a public authority as defined by the Freedom of Information Act it will be covered by the provisions of this legislation. If it does not meet the definition it will not be a public authority and will therefore have no obligations under the Act. The Freedom of Information Act applies to information that is held by a public authority and sets out which bodies and offices are considered public authorities for the purpose of the Act: • government departments (this includes Non Departmental Government Bodies); • Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the National Assembly for Wales; • the armed forces (but not Special Forces or units working with Government Communications Headquarters); • local authorities; • NHS bodies; • the Police; • other bodies and Offices such as regulators and advisory committees; • Wholly Owned Companies; and • some bodies are only covered for certain sorts of information such as the BBC and Channel 4; Other bodies not listed in the Act
