Access to Personal Files Act 1987

3 Access regulations.

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision as he considers appropriate for securing access by individuals to accessible personal information of which they are (or are treated as) the subjects and the rectification or erasure of inaccurate records containing such information.

(2) Regulations under this section may, in particular, for those purposes—

(a) impose obligations on the authorities keeping records containing such information to give access to the information in the prescribed manner;

(b) impose obligations on the authorities keeping records containing such information to rectify or make erasures in records containing inaccurate information;

(c) provide for exemptions from or impose restrictions on access to information or the rectification or erasure of inaccurate records;

(d) regulate the procedure for obtaining access to information or the rectification or erasure of inaccurate records;

(e) provide for decisions taken by authorities to be reconsidered or reviewed;

(f) authorise authorities to charge fees not exceeding the prescribed maximum; and

(g) make incidental and supplementary provision including provision defining the corresponding obligation for the purposes of section 2(4).

(3) Regulations under this section may make different provision for different descriptions of information, different authorities or other different circumstances.

(4) The Secretary of State shall, before making regulations under this section, consult such authorities or bodies representing authorities as he thinks appropriate.

(5) The power to make regulations under this section is exercisable by statutory instrument but no regulations under this section shall be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(6) In this section " prescribed " means prescribed in regulations under it.