Commentary on the Act

For those who need to understand the detail of the Freedom of Information Act, a commentary, in plain English, has been compiled on each section of the Act.

The sectional summaries are designed to be read in conjunction with the overview summary to provide detailed guidance on each specific area of the Act.

The overview of the Act, and the sectional summaries are available as individual PDF downloads.
The sectional summaries are organised as follows.

1. Access to Information held by Public Authorities
2. Exempt Information
3. General Functions of Secretary of State, Lord Chancellor and Information Commissioner
4. Enforcement
5. Appeals
6. Historical Records and Records in the National Archives etc
7. Amendments of the Data Protection Act 1998
8. Miscellaneous and Supplemental and List of Schedules