Publication of information concerning documents

(1) The responsible Minister or principal officer of a Ministry or prescribed authority shall, Publication of in- formation (a) cause to be published, as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act but not later than 12 months after that commencement, in a form approved by the Minister administering this Act, (i) a statement setting out particulars of the organization and functions of the Ministry or prescribed authority, as the case may be, indicating as far as practicable, the decision- making powers and other powers affecting members of the public that are involved in those functions, and particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with or representations by, bodies and outside the Government administration in relation to the formulation of policy in, or the administration of, the Ministry or prescribed authority; and (ii) a statement of the categories of documents that are maintained in the possession of such Ministry, or prescribed authority; and (b) within 12 months after the publication of the statement under subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (a), that is the first statement published under that subparagraph, and 10 thereafter at intervals of not more than 12 months, cause to be published statements bringing up to date the information contained in the previous statement or statements published under that subparagraph. (2) A form approved by the Minister under subsection (1) of this section, shall be such as he considers appropriate for the purpose of assisting members of the public to exercise effectively their rights under Part III of this Act. (3) The information to be published in accordance with this section may be published in the Gazette. (4) Nothing in this section requires the publication of information that is of such a nature that its inclusion in a document would cause that document to be an exempt (5) Subsection (1) of this section, applies in relation to a Ministry or prescribed authority that comes into existence after the commencement of this Act as if the references in that subsection to the commencement of this Act were references to the day on which the Ministry or prescribed authority comes into existence.