Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Public authority definition

What does Public authority mean? In legal practice, a public authority is an organisation that performs public functions or statutory duties, often substantially publicly funded or under governmental control (for example central or local government, NHS bodies, police and regulators) and, in some contexts, privately owned or third-sector providers delivering outsourced services. The term has no single definition; its scope is context-specific. In the UK, key regimes define it variously: Human Rights Act 1998 s.6 (core and hybrid public authorities); Freedom of Information Act 2000/FOISA 2002 (primarily listed bodies); Environmental Information Regulations (functional/control test); Data Protection Act 2018 (UK GDPR) adopting the FOI lists; and Equality...

EIR 2004 clarifying requests: regulation 12(4)(c) refusals, regulation 9 advice and assistance, distinguishing 12(4)(b), and time limits

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

Updated in partnership with Patrick Senior of Stephenson Harwood.

Where requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR 2004), SI 2004/3391 are set out clearly and without ambiguity, the Public authority has 20 working days to provide the information sought. For more on requests, see Practice Notes: Environmental Information Regulations 2004—requesting information, and Environmental Information Regulations 2004—what is environmental information?

Where a request is unclear, the EIR 2004 requires the public authority to issue a refusal notice under regulation 12(4)(c) (that the request is formulated in too general a manner) within 20 working days, and at the same time offer advice and assistance to clarify the request so the Authority can identify and locate the information requested.

Reading objectively

When deciding whether a request is unclear or ambiguous, a public authority must adopt an objective approach and take the wording at its Face value. A request may be too general if it:

has more than one reasonable interpretation; or
is not specific enough to enable the public authority to identify and locate the information requested...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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