692.Where this section applies (see section 392 above), the Authority is required to give any person who is the subject of a warning or decision notice, or who has received a copy of such a notice as a third party, access to certain categories of material.  Subsection (1)(a) requires access to be given to any material on which the Authority relied in taking the decision in question.  Subsection (1)(b) requires access to be given to material which the Authority considers might undermine that decision.
693.The latter category does not apply to all material in the Authority’s possession but only to material which the Authority considered in reaching its decision, or which it obtained in connection with, that is in investigation of, the matter in question (see the definition of “secondary material” in subsection (6)).
694.The right of access to Authority material is subject to the following exceptions.  First, the Authority may refuse access to material relating to a different case which was taken into account only for the purposes of comparison with the case in question.   Secondly, it may refuse access to “excluded material”, defined as covering “protected items” as defined in section 413, and material intercepted under (or indicating the existence of) a warrant for the interception of communications.  If access to material is refused on the grounds that it is subject to legal professional privilege, the Authority must give written notice to the person concerned.
695.Finally the Authority can refuse access to material which it would not be in the public interest to disclose (that is, material subject to public interest immunity) or to commercially sensitive material which it would not be fair to disclose.  In these cases the Authority must notify the person and give its reasons for refusing.
Commentary on Sections Part Xxvi: Notices Section 394: Access to Authority material