Section 61L | Meaning of “public authority” F1
From legislation.gov.uk
15 July 2026
(1)In this Chapter “public authority” means—F1
(a)a public authority as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000,F1
(aa)a body specified in section 23(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,F1F2
(b)a Scottish public authority as defined by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13),F1
(ba)the Advanced Research and Invention Agency,F1F3
(c)the Corporate Officer of the House of Commons,F1
(d)the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords,F1
(e)the National Assembly for Wales Commission, ...F1
(f)the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission , orF1F4
(g)a company connected with any person mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (f).F1F4
(2)An authority within paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) is a public authority for the purposes of this Chapter in relation to all its activities even if provisions of the Act mentioned in that paragraph do not apply to all information held by the authority.F1
(3)Subsection (1) is subject to subsection (4).F1
(4)A primary-healthcare provider is a public authority for the purposes of this Chapter only if the primary-healthcare provider—F1
(a)has a registered patient list for the purposes of relevant medical-services regulations,F1
(b)is within paragraph 43A in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (providers of primary healthcare services in England and Wales) by reason of being a person providing primary dental services,F1
(c)is within paragraph 51 in that Part of that Schedule (providers of healthcare services in Northern Ireland) by reason of being a person providing general dental services, orF1
(d)is within paragraph 33 in Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (providers of healthcare services in Scotland) by reason of being a person providing general dental services.F1
(5)In this section—F1
“primary-healthcare provider” means an authority that is within subsection (1)(a) or (b) only because it is within a relevant paragraph,
“relevant paragraph” means—
(a)any of paragraphs 43A to 45A and 51 in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or
(b)any of paragraphs 33 to 35 in Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and
“relevant medical-services regulations” means any of the following—
(a)the Primary Medical Services (Sale of Goodwill and Restrictions on Sub-contracting) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/906),
(b)the Primary Medical Services (Sale of Goodwill and Restrictions on Sub-contracting) (Wales) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1017),
(c)the Primary Medical Services (Sale of Goodwill and Restrictions on Sub-contracting) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (S.S.I. 2004/162), and
(d)the Primary Medical Services (Sale of Goodwill and Restrictions on Sub-contracting) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (S.R. (N.I.) 2004 No. 477).
(6)The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs may by regulations amend this section in consequence of—F1
(a)any amendment or revocation of any regulations for the time being referred to in this section,F1
(b)any amendment in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, orF1
(c)any amendment in Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.F1