Order, order.

Royal Freedom of Information Bill

A Bill to restore and extend the right to freedom of information to the Sovereign, members of the Royal Family and the Royal Household.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1: Amendments of Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010

(1) Schedule 7 (Amendments of Freedom of Information Act 2000) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 is amended as follows.

(2) Omit Paragraph 2.

(3) Omit Paragraph 3.

(3) In Paragraph 4, subsection 4, omit:

> (2E) Information cannot be exempt information by virtue of any of paragraphs (a) to (ad) of section 37(1) after whichever is the later of—

(a) the end of the period of five years beginning with the date of the relevant death, and

(b) the end of the period of twenty years beginning with the date on which the record containing the information was created.

> (2F) In subsection (2E)(a) “the relevant death” means—

>>death of the person referred to in the paragraph concerned, or

>> (b) for the purposes of section 37(1)(ad), the death of the Sovereign reigning when the record containing the information was created.”

2: Amendments of Freedom of Information Act 2000

(1) Part II (Exempt Information) of the Freedom of Information Act is amended as follows.

(2) Amend Section 1(a) to “communications with the current reigning monarch of the United Kingdom”

(3) Remove section 1(b)

The relevant section in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 now reads:

(1)Information is exempt information if it relates to—

(a)communications with the current reigning monarch of the United Kingdom

(2)The duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to information which is (or if it were held by the public authority would be) exempt information by virtue of subsection (1).

3: Commencement & Short Title

(1) This law may be cited as the Royal Freedom of Information Act 2015.

(2) This law shall come into force immediately.

(3) This law shall extend to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This was submitted by the Right Honourable /u/JackWilfred MP on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.

The discussion period for this reading will end 11th January 2016.