Environment Protection: Public Bodies
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there is a consolidated public list of each (a) public authority and (b) private body with public functions that is subject to the Environmental Information Regulations.
Answered by Mary Creagh
No. There is no consolidated, public list of relevant bodies.
Bodies are made subject to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) through the definition in regulation 2(2), rather than by designation. The Information Commissioner has jurisdiction to both investigate and decide whether a body is a public authority for these purposes. This definitional approach requires a contextual inquiry. The Commissioner’s decision may be subject to appeal through the courts. At best, a list of public authorities would be incomplete and rapidly out of date.
Most public authorities subject to the EIR are listed by name or category in Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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