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Ministers' Correspondence with Members of Parliament

Freedom of Information (Access to Information)

5. The access to information provisions of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 came into force on 1 January 2005 . All requests for information under the FOI Act including letters from MPs and Peers should be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Act . Guidance for Departments on the handling of FOI requests is available separately at www.foi.gov.uk . Requests for environmental information should be treated in accordance with requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, guidance on the handling of EIR requests can be obtained from the DEFRA website. This guidance sets out the principles which should apply for non-FOI requests.

6. Care should be taken when deciding whether correspondence requires an FOI or EIR response. It will not necessarily be appropriate to consider every request for information from a Member of Parliament or Peer as intended to engage the statutory framework. If you are in doubt you should seek guidance from your departmental FOI co-ordinator.

7. The performance on the handling of FOI and EIR requests will be recorded separately.

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