The Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) came into force with effect from 1st January 2005. It relates to all public bodies such as Government departments and Universities i.e. those who receive Government Funding.
The act means that anybody i.e. members of the public or perhaps in our case other companies who have not been successful in being awarded contracts are able to ask for any information that the University holds on a particular subject and providing that the requester can prove that the information they are seeking to obtain is in the public interest, then we have to provide that information within 20 working days. The request has to be in writing which includes e-mail. UWE will be liable if we don’t provide the information within that time frame and an individual can be liable if that person attempts to destroy any information held on file. If information has been destroyed prior to 1st January 2005 then no liability can arise.
Each organisation has to keep a log of all requests made and all information provided by them. A request for information can be sent to anybody in the University. If you receive a request then this needs to be passed onto Purchasing to co-ordinate.