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Freedom Of Information News RSSFreedom of Information
Like a street mugger this government thrives on lurking in the dark and the shadows, as it commits its crimes– the war in Iraq, ID Cards Act, the list goes on – now it is proposing curtailing even the single candle of light that gave us access to information to make our own minds up – The Freedom of Information Act.
The Government review of the Freedom of Information Act has brought up two main proposed amendments:
1. The first proposed amendment roughly translates as, they’ll spend some time shuffling paper around deciding how much time it will take to shuffle paper around then refuse the request because it’ll take too long to do the combined shuffling of paper or even the thinking about shuffling paper. Or in other words request can only cost a combined total of £600 (for government departments - only £450 for public authorities) which would include thinking time.
2. The second proposal will allow organisations or "serial requesters" – including universities, NGO’s and newspapers to ask only four questions a year. Massively curtailing our right even to ask before being refused the information.
Full details of the proposals & further details and what people have said - from The Campaign for Freedom of Information
TAKE ACTION
Write to your MP at WriteToThem.com
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has conceded to another period of consultation on the planned reforms - take part here - deadline 21/06/07
Results from the previous consultation period
The response from the Information Commissioner's Office (PDF)
Assistance from the OpenRights group on the DCA consultation
The petition at www.number10.gov - "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Reject the restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act proposed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs" - The Prime Ministers response
Other Reading
Campaign for Freedom of Information - The Campaign for Freedom of Information is a non-profit organisation working to improve public access to official information and to ensure that the Freedom of Information Act is implemented effectively.
UK Freedom of Information Act Blog - News, views and updates on the UK Freedom of Information Act, worldwide Freedom of Information and open government. Maintained by The Campaign for Freedom of Information.
Information Commissioners Office - Your rights, responsibilities and obligations - Everything you need to know about freedom of information, from basic information and guidance to individuals' rights, organisations' obligations, our legal powers, responsibilities and publication schemes.
Guardian Special report: freedom of information - including a guide to using the Freedom of Information Act and the Guardian reports relating to the Act
Your Right To Know - The website accompanies and updates Heather Brooke's book "Your Right to Know: How to use the Freedom of Information Act and other access laws". She wrote the book to expose the extent of Britain’s culture of secrecy and to give people the tools they need to challenge and change the system so it becomes more open and accountable to the public.
Spy Blog - UK FOIA requests - "This United Kingdom based blog has been spawned from Spy Blog, and is meant to provide a place to track our Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests to United Kingdom Government and other Public Authorities."
Freedom Of Information News
Freedom Of Information News
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10/04/2008 |
"There is a difference between private and secret." So said Ken Livingstone when he told journalists last week - to pre-empt the disclosure by a Sunday newspaper - that he was the father of five children by three women. The Mayor of London is absolutely right, and makes an important distinction that ought to guide our judgement of the standards of conduct in public life.
The Speaker and the Prime Minister tried to use the privacy argument in their doomed attempt to prevent full disclosure of MPs' expenses. Twelve days ago, the House of Commons Commission decided, at the last minute and against its previous legal advice, to appeal against a ruling by the Information Tribunal that details of expenses should be published. That decision - a decision that will cost the public purse thousands in legal fees - was taken at a meeting of the commission called at short notice and attended by two members: Michael Martin, the Speaker, and Harriet Harman, the Leader of the House. It is inconceivable, therefore, that they were acting without the knowledge and approval of Gordon Brown.
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10/04/2008 |
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Freedom Of Information: Should policy discussions be kept under wraps? |
The Government argues that policy decision-making requires 'space to think' and should remain safe from prying eyes. Is this in the public interest? asks Maurice Frankel
Should policy discussions between officials be disclosed under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? Or should they be withheld to reassure civil servants that they can speak frankly, safe from the press and public's prying eyes?
These issues were central to two recent High Court cases. Each involved the Government challenging rulings by the Information Tribunal that such material should be disclosed.
The first involved a request for the submissions which the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) received from other government departments about a proposal to extract oil and gas near the island of Sakhalin, north of Japan. The project is contentious because oil spills could endanger a near-extinct species of whale.
Friends of the Earth applied for the information under the environmental information regulations, which provide a similar right of access to the FOI Act. The decision under both laws is simple: does the balance of public-interest arguments favour disclosure or confidentiality?
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Author : Maurice Frankel |
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10/04/2008 |
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Speaker's bid to keep MPs expenses secret 'deals a hammer blow to Parliament's name' |
The House of Commons' decision to fight the publication of MPs' expenses in the High Court has dealt another unnecessary "hammer blow" to the public's confidence in Parliament, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said today.
He insisted the move was merely "delaying the inevitable" and called for the details of the second homes allowance to be released immediately.
His comments will increase pressure on Commons Speaker Michael Martin, whose management committee is already under fire from MPs for not consulting the House before deciding to appeal against publication of their expenses.
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Author : Ian Drury |
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10/04/2008 |
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UNESCO launches second edition of legal survey on freedom of information |
A second edition, entirely revised and updated, of Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey by Toby Mendel was launched yesterday during a two-day experts group meeting on Freedom of Information and Sustainable Development held at UNESCO Headquarters on 17-18 March 2008.
The book is meant to present the basics of freedom of information or right to information, defined as the universal right to access information held by public bodies.
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10/04/2008 |
The privacy watchdog has launched its latest salvo over failures in public authorities' data handling - this time against the department that makes the rules.
The information commissioner's office said the National Offender Management Service, which is part of the Ministry of Justice, had repeatedly stalled freedom of information requests by as much as two years.
The criticism, which comes after the Revenue & Customs data loss and other information security scandals, highlights much broader concerns about the way the FoI regime works.
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, a non-governmental group, welcomed the action but said Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, should have done much more to tackle the “pathological resistance to disclosure throughout much of government".
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Author : Michael Peel |
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10/04/2008 |
Home Office internal review - Terrorism Act 2000 section 44 stop and search authorisation times and locations
Despite what seem to be compelling arguments in favour of the publication of the geographical locations and the durations of the Terrorism Act 2000 section 44 stop and search without reasonable cause powers, which are not general Police powers, but which are meant to be strictly limited, the home Office has , after an Internal review, yet again rejected our FOIA request for disclosure.
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29/01/2008 |
On 25th October 2007 the Prime Minister announced that he had asked Paul Dacre, working with Professor David Cannadine and Sir Joseph Pilling, to chair an independent review of the '30-year rule', under which most government records are transferred to The National Archives and made available to the public by the time they are 30 years old.
The review is now in progress and will report to the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor by summer 2008.
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29/01/2008 |
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Freedom Of Information: The right to know about history but not current affairs |
It is well known that the wheels of justice can run slowly, but the grinding process of seeking satisfaction under the right-to-know legislation is in danger of transforming requests for information about current affairs into something akin to historical research.
This week, the Information Tribunal ordered the Government to release an early draft of the dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction published ahead of the Iraq war.
The tribunal ruled that ministers should publish the 32-page draft, drawn up by the former Foreign Office head of news John Williams weeks before the final dossier was published in September 2002. This information is now almost six years old and although it is still of political interest, the intervening events, and a new prime minister, mean that it is of more interest to historians than members of the public set on getting to the truth.
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Author : Robert Verkaik |
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29/01/2008 |
The House of Commons has been ordered to reveal the full details of the expenses claimed by six MPs, including Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, it emerged today.
The ruling, from the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, could set a precedent that would mean all MPs would have to disclose similar information, including the costs of individual trips.
The Commons authorities have fought for more than two years against being forced to release the information, which was the subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
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Author : Andrew Sparrow |
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29/01/2008 |
Regional newspapers continue to make good use of the Freedom of Information Act, three years after public authorities opened up their files.
Section 1.1 says that any person making a request for information from a public authority is entitled to be told whether or not the authority holds the information and, if it does, to receive the information.
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29/01/2008 |
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Freedom of Information Act 2000: Designation of additional public authorities (PDF) |
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) came into force on 1 January 2005. The Act makes provision for the disclosure of information held by public authorities and aims to enable greater transparency, accountability and engagement, which are key components of the Prime Minister's Parliamentary statement of July 2007 on Constitutional Reform. The Act applies to over 100,000 public authorities. These include central government departments, local authorities, schools, colleges and universities, the health service, the police and a range of other public bodies.
The Act also includes provision to extend its coverage to organisations that carry out functions of a public nature and to contractors who provide services which are a function of that public authority. This can be done through making an order under section 5 of the Act (a section 5 order) whereby such organisations would be designated as public authorities for specified functions for the purposes of the Act.
The aim of the consultation document is to seek views as to whether the Government should look to use the powers under section 5 and extend the coverage of freedom of information (FOI) and if so which organisations it should consider. No organisation will be designated on the basis of this consultation alone. If it were decided to make section 5 orders then a further consultation would occur with those organisations likely to be affected by the order (or their representatives), accompanied by a full impact assessment of the coverage.
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06/08/2007 |
Controversial plans by MPs to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act have stalled in the House of Lords after failing to find a sponsor willing to introduce them.
The private members bill that would exempt members of parliament from having to release information under the Act cannot now be introduced before the summer recess on 26 July.
If a sponsor can be found, Conservative MP David Maclean's Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill could be introduced in the autumn, but probably in a watered-down form.
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Author : Laura Smith |
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06/08/2007 |
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Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No 22: Vexatious and repeated requests |
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has produced this guidance as part of a series of good practice guidance designed to aid understanding and application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The aim is to introduce some of the key concepts in the Act and to suggest the approaches that may be taken in response to information requests
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06/08/2007 |
5th Report of Session 2006-07
The Constitution Committee is appointed by the House of Lords in each session with the following
terms of reference:
To examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming before the House; and to keep
under review the operation of the constitution.
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06/08/2007 |
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ruled under the Freedom of Information Act that the Home Office was right to withhold five applications for licences to test drugs on animals
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19/06/2007 |
The Government has moved to resolve the row over freedom of information (FoI) and MPs' correspondence as it pledged to issue new guidance to public bodies.
The announcement by Commons Leader Jack Straw effectively sounded the death knell for a contentious bid to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act.
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19/06/2007 |
A controversial attempt to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act is facing collapse after supporters failed to find a single backer in the House of Lords.
The Public Bill Office in the Lords confirmed that no peer had come forward to sponsor Tory MP David Maclean's Private Member's Bill by Wednesday evening's deadline.
Although technically it is still possible that the measure could be revived, opponents said that it should now be abandoned for good.
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14/06/2007 |
Tom Brake MP ten-minute rule bill to "Amend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to remove the provisions permitting Ministers to overrule decisions of the Information Commissioner and Information Tribunal; to limit the time allowed for public authorities to respond to requests involving consideration of the public interest; to amend the definition of public authorities; and for connected purposes."
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Author : Tom Brake |
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14/06/2007 |
Tony Blair pointedly refused to condemn a Tory bid to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act today, prompting speculation the government is privately in favour of the measure.
A Conservative backbencher is attempting to bring in a private member's bill excluding parliament from the provisions of the act.
Today Mr Blair was quizzed for the first time publicly for his view on the bill - and refused to condemn it.
Instead of commenting directly on the bill - which ordinarily would have no chance of becoming law - he insisted MPs were already under "a huge amount of scrutiny".
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Author : Matthew Tempest, |
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14/06/2007 |
David Cameron has said Conservative peers will block the Freedom of Information (FoI) exemption bill in its current form - even though a former Tory whip tabled the original private member's bill.
The Conservative leader has acknowledged there are concerns with proposals to exempt themselves from the FoI act and said peers will not support it in its current form.
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14/06/2007 |
Treasury officials are ordering the immediate destruction of "Gateway" internal reports into risky government IT schemes to prevent information on the projects being leaked.
Their action, a response to the Freedom of Information Act, comes even though the Treasury's Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has lost two appeals to keep Gateway reports secret. Managed by the OGC, Gateway reviews are independent assessments of high and medium-risk IT-based and other projects at various stages in their lifecycle: projects such as the £5.3bn ID cards scheme and the NHS's £12.4bn National Programme for IT.
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14/06/2007 |
MPs have passed a private member's bill that would exempt them from the Freedom of Information Act (FoI).
It returned to the Commons today weeks after opponents had succeed in talking it out. However, critics failed to successfully replicate this approach and the bill passed by 96 votes to 25.
The amendment passed today read: "Information is exempt if it consists of correspondence between a Member of Parliament and public authority.
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14/06/2007 |
Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor, said of the Freedom of Information Act, "The more there is a culture of openness, the better decision-making will be." He promised a "change in way we are governed" because "real, informed accountability improves standards".
But in IT there has been no transformation. Indeed, the Office of Government Commerce, which oversees government IT, seems more stirred by James Bond-style intrigue than Falconer's entreaties on the need for open government.
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25/05/2007 |
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas is to announce plans to deter vexatious requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. At a conference in London, he will say that such cases can waste public money and jeopardise the reputation of the Act.
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Author : Kablenet |
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25/05/2007 |
Public bodies will receive guidelines on how to deal with frivolous and vexatious requests for data, the Information Commissioner has announced. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, said that mischievous and pointless demands under the Freedom of Information act are wasting taxpayers money.
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Author : Laura Clout and agencies |
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25/05/2007 |
Minister Alistair Darling wants tighter restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act, the BBC has learned. The Trade Secretary is concerned that it does not sufficiently protect advice from officials to ministers.
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25/05/2007 |
Gordon Brown is poised to kill off moves by the Lord Chancellor to water down the Freedom of Information Act, it became clear last night. The Chancellor is ready to block plans drawn up by Lord Falconer which critics claim are designed to make it more difficult for people to obtain information from Whitehall.
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Author : Graeme Wilson and George Jones |
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25/05/2007 |
Tory peers will today try to block controversial legislation exempting MPs from the Freedom of Information Act, David Cameron said today. Speaking at a news conference in London, the Conservative leader said his party was not prepared to support the bill in its current form in the upper chamber. "We will act to stop the bill in its current form in the House of Lords," he said.
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Author : Deborah Summers and agencies |
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25/05/2007 |
MPs today backed a controversial bid to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act - a move described by opponents as "squalid". The Tory private member's freedom of information (amendment) bill secured its third reading by 96 votes to 25, a majority of 71.
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Author : Hélène Mulholland and agencies |
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25/05/2007 |
It is unlikely that the contents of the memo leaked by David Keogh and Leo O'Connor, for which the two men were jailed last week, will ever be disclosed. The British government has a long tradition of covering up its Middle East embarrassments. O'Connor's barrister remarked during the trial that the war in Iraq was the most controversial foreign affairs involvement of this country since Suez, but more than 50 years since Anthony Eden invaded Egypt, there are still documents which Whitehall refuses to release.
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Author : Jo Glanville |
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25/05/2007 |
A bill to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act is to be debated again - a week after opponents thought they had effectively killed it off
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25/05/2007 |
MPs today scuppered a bill that would have exempted politicians from freedom of information inquiries. The legislation, if passed, would have curbed requests about issues such MPs' expenses and allowances.
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Author : Hélène Mulholland and agencies |
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25/05/2007 |
Without political involvement, a campaign about government data hasn't got much chance. So it must count as important that we got an off-the-record meeting with the minister in charge of that data. Baroness Ashton (Catherine Ashton), of the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), is responsible for policy on public sector information - the digital crown jewels which the Guardi an's Free Our Data campaign says should be liberated.
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Author : Michael Cross |
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25/05/2007 |
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Ministers accused of undermining FOI laws as 30 per cent of requests rebuffed |
Ministers have slashed the amount of information they allow the public to know, a report has revealed. It showed that a string of Whitehall departments have tightened the secrecy surrounding their activities despite Tony Blair's promise that Labour would bring an era of open government.
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24/05/2007 |
FOI restrictions unnecessary, Info Commissioner says - Existing rules can do the job if used properly - Out-Law.com -The Register - The government would not need to limit the scope of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act if public authorities used existing rules properly, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said. The ICO is opposing the government's changes. The gvernment wants to limit the scope and number of FOI enquiries by changing the cost structure currently in place. In response to a consultation process the ICO said the government's stated aims could be achieved under existing rules and that the proposed changes would make the operation of the Act more difficult.
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24/05/2007 |
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Govt plans to 'neuter' FoI kicked into long grass following PG campaign |
Govt plans to 'neuter' FoI kicked into long grass following PG campaign - Patrick Smith, Martin Stabe, Dominic Ponsford - OnLinePressGazette - The Government has effectively kicked plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act into the long grass. The Department of Constitutional Affairs this morning announced that it will hold an additional 12-week consultation period on its proposals to amend the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Regulations. Effectively the move means that plans that had been condemned as "neutering" FoI for journalists may now be left for a new Prime Minister to decide.
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