ABSTRACT
The Act of 2000 provides a general right of access to the information held by a range of bodies. The Act covers ‘public authorities’ and s 3 sets out the various ways in which a body can be a public authority. In Sched 1, the Act covers all government departments: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, quangos, the NHS, administrative functions of courts and tribunals, police authorities and chief officers of police, the armed forces, local authorities, local public bodies, schools and other public educational institutions, and public service broadcasters. Under s 5, private organisations may be designated as public authorities in so far as they carry out statutory functions, as may the privatised utilities and private bodies working on contracted-out functions.
