Section 21: Information accessible to applicant by other means
Section 21 applies to information that is already reasonably accessible
to the applicant. It recognises that the right of access under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 is supplementary to the very many ways in which
public authorities already provide information to members of the public.
For example, section 21 will apply if information is included on a public
authority's publication scheme or if the public authority is under a statutory
obligation to give out the information to members of the public on request.
Key points:
The question is whether the information is reasonably accessible to
the applicant: public authorities need to be alert to any
attributes of an individual applicant which may mean that information
is more or less accessible to him than it is to the public at large;
Section 21 may apply even if a fee is charged for supplying the information;
There is no exclusion in section 21 of the duty to confirm or deny
whether information is held. Even if information is exempt under section
21, public authorities may still have to tell the applicant whether
or not they hold the information requested.
Section 21 is not subject to any public interest balance.
