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Freedom of Information
The British-Irish Agreement provides that a Code of Practice on Freedom of Information be drawn up by the Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers with responsibility for freedom of information for the North/South Bodies for approval by the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC). The Special EU Programmes Body opperates under this Freedom of Information Code of Practice approved by NSMC. The Code is non-statutory and has been drafted with regard to the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003 in Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act, 2000 in the United Kingdom, together with other standards and best practice in the area of acces to information.
The Code facilitates public access to information held by the Special EU Programmes Body in a number of ways. It provides that the Body should publish certain types of information relating to its functions, structures, organisation and services, together with a general description of the type of information held by the Body. It sets out the process under which a member of the public can request information held by the Body, the steps that the Body must take in handling such a request and the time period within which the Body should normally respond to a request. The Code also contains the facility for members of the public to obtain a statement of the reasons for an act of the Body affecting the person.
The Annex to the Code sets out the categories of exempt information, if the information requested falls into a category listed in Part 1 of the Annex, the Body is not obliged to release the information. If the information requested falls into a category listed in Part 2, the Body must carry out a public interest test in deciding whether or not to release the information.
The Code provides for an internal review mechanism of decisions taken by the Body under the Code.
A copy of this Code of Practice may be downloaded by using the link above or obtained in hard copy by contacting:
| Rae Browne |
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+44 28 9026 6729 |
| Special EU Programmes Body, |
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+44 28 9026 6661 |
| EU House, |
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Rae.Browne@seupb.eu |
| 6 Cromac Place, |
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| BELFAST |
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| BT7 2JB |
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Making a Request for Information
A request for information held by the Special EU Programmes Body should be made in writing or electronic form. When making a request for information, please provide your name, reply address (which may be by email) and describe the information you wish to access. The description should contain sufficient particulars to enable the identification of that information in reasonable manner.
To make a Freedom of Information request, please send details of the request to:
| Rae Browne |
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+44 28 9026 6729 |
| Special EU Programmes Body, |
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+44 28 9026 6661 |
| EU House, |
|
Rae.Browne@seupb.eu |
| 6 Cromac Place, |
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| BELFAST |
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| BT7 2JB |
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