Freedom of Information Act 2000: Disclosure log criteria

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will publish in its disclosure log information released in response to requests made to us under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 that we feel are of wider public interest. In some cases we will also provide an explanation and/or statement of context.

In addition to our disclosure log, you can find more information that we make routinely available in our publication scheme.

PDF file Freedom of Information Act publication scheme document June 2014(202.79 KB)

Criteria

We will publish information where we consider there is a wider public interest guided by the following criteria:

  • There is a substantial public, rather than private, interest in the information
  • A number of requests have been made on the same or a closely related subject
  • Publication would demonstrate how the FSA spends money
  • Publication would demonstrate how the FSA exercises its regulatory functions and makes decisions
  • Publication would inform public debate.

The FSA will remove all references to personal information where necessary to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Process

The FSA will assess each response on a case by case basis to determine whether it should be published in the disclosure log. Where a response has changed as a result of an internal review, the disclosure log will be updated accordingly.

Retention

The FSA will review the log from time to time to remove outdated requests.