S. 12 wholly in force at 1.1.2005; s. 12 in force at Royal Assent to the extent that it confers power to make regulations, see s. 87(1)(m)(3); s. 12 otherwise in force at 1.1.2005 by S.I. 2004/3122, art. 2

Words in s. 12(4) substituted (9.11.2016) by The Transfer of Functions (Elections, Referendums, Third Sector and Information) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/997), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 14(2)(h) (with art. 12)

Words in s. 12(5) substituted (9.11.2016) by The Transfer of Functions (Elections, Referendums, Third Sector and Information) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/997), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 14(2)(h) (with art. 12)

S. 12(3)-(5) functions transferred (9.12.2015) by The Transfer of Functions (Information and Public Records) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/1897), arts. 1(2), 4(1), (2)(e) (with art. 5)

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/12Freedom of Information Act 2000An Act to make provision for the disclosure of information held by public authorities or by persons providing services for them and to amend the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Public Records Act 1958; and for connected purposes.texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2026-03-02Expert Participation2026-03-02Part I Access to information held by public authorities Right to information
12Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.(1)

Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.

(2)

Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone would exceed the appropriate limit.

(3)

In subsections (1) and (2) “the appropriate limit” means such amount as may be prescribed, and different amounts may be prescribed in relation to different cases.

(4)

The Minister for the Cabinet Office may by regulations provide that, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, where two or more requests for information are made to a public authority—

(a)

by one person, or

(b)

by different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign,

the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.

(5)

The Minister for the Cabinet Office may by regulations make provision for the purposes of this section as to the costs to be estimated and as to the manner in which they are to be estimated.