 The
Campaign held a fringe
meeting at the Liberal Democrat
conference in Liverpool on 18 September 2010. The
meeting was addressed by Lord McNally,
the Ministry of Justice minister responsible for
freedom of information, and Sir Alan Beith, the chair
of the House of Commons Justice Committee. A brief
summary of what they said is here.
The
Campaign's next half-day course on 'Information
Commissioner & Tribunal Decisions' will
be in London on 30 November
2010.
The course, which is aimed at those with a good working
knowledge of the legislation, highlights the latest
developments in the way the main exemptions, the
public interest test and the legislation's procedural
requirements are being interpreted. The course is
presented by the Campaign's director, Maurice Frankel,
who has worked in the field for 27 years. It will
cover the most significant decisions issued since
our last course in June 2010. The content will
therefore vary, depending on the cases that have
been decided, but the course typically addresses
issues such as: "fair" and "unfair" disclosures
of personal data, the FOI/EIR border, the application
of specific exemptions, where the public interest
line is being drawn and the cost limit, advice & assitance
and other administrative provisions.
This
article discusses
Tony Blair's criticism of freedom of information
in his memoirs. Although Mr Blair
says his views are based on experience of FOI in
practice, the Campaign says it is clear that his
hostility began well before the legislation was
passed. It points out that Mr Blair himself links
his criticism
of FOI to his realisation that it could help expose
Labour's own "scandals".
The
Campaign's next 'Scottish
Information Commissioner Decisions' courses
will be in Glasgow on 1
February 2011 and Aberdeen on 2
February 2011.
Further information here.
 Using
the FOI Act! Courses for new & experienced
requesters
Do
you want to learn how to use the Freedom of Information
Act? Are you already using the Act, but want to know
more about how the Information Commissioner and Information
Tribunal are interpreting its key provisions? The
Campaign is running a day training course
for FOI requesters in central London on Thursday
16 September 2010. The course is divided
into two parts. The morning part provides an introduction
to the legislation for those who are new to it, covering
both the Freedom of Information Act and the parallel
Environmental Information Regulations. The afternoon
is more advanced and will examine some of the key
decisions made under the two regimes and explain
how they can help you obtain information. We think
most people will benefit from attending the whole
day, but very experienced requesters may prefer to
attend just the afternoon. Further information and
details on how to book here.
The
Campaign has responded to
the Scottish Government's consultation on revising
its code of good practice
under the FOI (Scotland) Act. It expresses concern
that the draft code’s approach to requests
which are phrased in terms of ‘documents’ rather
than ‘information’ is restrictive and
undermines the Scottish Information Commissioner’s
guidance on this issue. It suggests that the guidance
on the provision of advice and assistance could
be strengthened; that the loss of specific Scottish
Government guidance on the EIRs may have unintended
consequences; that the draft may lead to confusion
between the FOISA exemptions on breach of confidence
and substantial prejudice to commercial interests.
It also says authorities should not be entitled
to
ignore a request for internal review which has
not been made to a designated person. The
Campaign has welcomed the
government's announcement that it has dropped its
proposal to exempt cabinet papers from the Freedom
of Information Act, and that it will reduce the
30 year rule to 20 years.
The
Campaign has responded to
a request from the UK Statistics Authority for
its views on the adequacy of the Ministry of Justice's
freedom of information statistics.
The
ICO has recently commented on the University of East
Anglia's handling of FOI requests for climate change
data, pointing
out that, although the deliberate destruction of
requested records is an offence, no prosecution could
be considered as there is a 6 month time limit for
doing so. Last year, the Campaign promoted an amendment
to the FOI Act, to extend this 6 month limit, but
the government rejected it. This note explains the
background.
Passage
of the FOI Act - This chapter by
Katherine Gundersen describes the passage of the
FOI Act and early experience of its operation.
It first appeared as part of as part of Unlocking
Democracy: 20 years of Charter 88, published
by Politico's in December 2008. Back
issues of the Campaign's Secrets newspaper - To
mark the 25th anniversary of the Campaign (it was
launched in January 1984), the Campaign has published
back issues of its Secrets newspaper which appeared between
1984 and 1993. The newspapers,
which may be of interest to people studying the
history of freedom of information in the UK,
start by describing
the position of the party leaders at the time
- Neil Kinnock,
David
Steel, David Owen and the then Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher. They document the secrecy
problems that
prompted demands for a FOI Act, the progress
of various private members' bills promoted by
the Campaign,
the causes celebre of the time including the
Ponting and Tisdall official secrets prosecutions
and the
Freedom of Information Awards given to public
authorities which voluntarily opened their files
to the public
without being forced to do so. (Note to students
writing about the history of this issue: please
read these newspapers before/instead of contacting
the
Campaign!)
The
government has used its veto to block the disclosure
of information under the FOI Act for the second time.
The case involves a request for 1997 minutes of the
cabinet
committee
dealing
with devolution. Remarkably the government was
in the process of appealing to the Tribunal against
the Commissioner's decision, but has dropped the
appeal and vetoed the decision instead. This comment
piece discusses the case.
ICO
delays raised in
Parliament and highlighted by the Information Tribunal.
Read more.
The
Government's plans to extend the Freedom of Information
Act to just 4 bodies or classes of organisation
is "a useful but disappointingly modest result",
the Campaign has said. Read the press
release.
Long
delays by the Information Commissioner's Office
in investigating freedom of information complaints
are
undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act, according
to a new report by the Campaign. The report analyses
nearly 500 formal decision notices issued by the
ICO in the 18 months to 31 March 2009. It finds
that on average it took 19.7 months from the date
of a
complaint to the ICO to the date on which the ICO's
decision was issued. It also shows that 46% of
cases took between 1 and 2 years from complaint
to decision notice and 30% took more than 2 years
to
a decision. The report also found that on average
the ICO's investigation into
a complaint
did not begin until 8 months after the
complaint had been received. In 28% of cases, there
was a delay of more than a year before the investigation
began. The report is published in two parts, a report plus
a table providing
data on all 493 decision notices considered in
the study. A press
release accompanying the report is here.
The
information on MPs' allowances published by the
House of Commons would have made it impossible to
detect
the most serious abuses revealed by the Daily Telegraph,
the Campaign for Freedom of Information said. Read
the press release.
The
Campaign for Freedom of Information has welcomed
the Prime Minister's announcement that the Freedom
of Information Act would be extended to additional
bodies and that the 30 year period before old official
papers are made public would be reduced to 20 years.
However, it expressed serious concern at Mr Brown's
announcement that new exemptions to the Freedom of
Information Act would be introduced for Cabinet Papers
and for information relating to the Royal Family.
Read the press release.
The
Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland has
responded to
the Scottish Government's discussion paper on extending
the scope of the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act.
The Campaign
supports the extension in the scope of the Act to
bodies with public functions and to contractors
providing
services
on behalf of Scottish public authorities. It also
calls for the Association of Chief Police Officers
in Scotland, which plays a key role in policing decisions
to be brought under FOISA in its own right.
This
press release says
the government's decision to veto the release of
the Iraq cabinet minutes is an "extremely
retrograde" step. The Campaign said the government
should have abided by the Information Tribunal's
decision on
the release of the cabinet minutes - or appealed
against
it, but not overruled it. The Campaign also expressed
serious concern at the statement of Jack Straw,
the Justice Secretary, that the government was
actively
considering widening some of the Freedom of Information
Act's exemptions, to make it easier to withhold
official information.
The
Campaign has welcomed proposals to halve the "30
year rule" and automatically release government
records after 15 years. The proposals
are made by a committed chaired by Paul
Dacre, editor
in chief
of Associated
Newspapers, which had been asked to review the
30 year rule by the Prime Minister. However, the
Campaign
expressed reservations about the proposal that
the names of
civil servants should normally be blacked out from
released documents, which it said conflicted with
rulings of the Information Commissioner and Information
Tribunal. Read the press
release.
This
press release says
the Government
should 'live with' the Information Tribunal's decision,
published on 27 January 2009,
and release the two sets of cabinet minutes from
2003 discussing the
decision
to go to
war in
Iraq. The Tribunal's decision, made under the Freedom
of Information Act, found that the balance of public
interest favoured disclosure.
Press
release welcoming the government's decision
to shelve "improper" attempt to conceal
MPs' expenses.
Parliamentary
briefing urging MPs and peers to vote against the
proposal to exclude information about their expenses
from the Freedom of Information Act.
The
Campaign is urging its supporters to write to their
MPs opposing the Government's move to exclude MPs'
expenses from the FOI Act. The measure is being rushed
through Parliament at extraordinary speed with no
public consultation or advance notice. You can read
more about the proposal on our website here.
A letter from
Maurice Frankel published in The Times on
4 December 2008 points out that the kind of leaks
involved in the Damian Green affair were of information
of a kind deliberately removed from the scope of
the Official Secrets Act 1989 which intended that
such matters be dealt with as a disciplinary rather
than a criminal matter.
This
short briefing on
delays in investigating FOI complaints by the Information
Commissioner's Office was circulated to MPs in advance
of a debate in the House of Commons on 24 November
2008.
A
new report by
the Campaign summarises more than 1,000 press stories
based on
disclosures under the UK and Scottish FOI acts
in 2006 and 2007.
The
stories
demonstrate
the
enormous
range
of information being
released
under FOI and reveal the substantial contribution
to accountability made
by the acts. In 2006, the government proposed
to restrict the UK FOI Act, partly because of what
it
said was excessive use of the Act being made by
journalists.
The report shows how valuable the press's use of
FOI has been. The proposals were dropped by Gordon
Brown after he became prime minister in 2007. (Note:
the report
is 250 pages and may take a little while
to
download).
This
article,
published in Press Gazette on 2 May 2008, reviews
the Information Tribunal's recent decisions
on access to policy advice showing that it has
required disclosure
only a short time after the relevant government
decision has been taken. Despite two High Court
challenges,
the
government
has failed
to overturn the Tribunal's approach.
The
Campaign has responded to
the review of the 30 year rule set up by the Prime
Minister.
It summarises the 7 Information Tribunal decisions
to date dealing with advice or internal discussion
and
points out that
in almost
every case the Tribunal has held that disclosure
should have taken place at the time of the request,
a few years or a few months after the decision.
It says
that this material should now be proactively
released after 15 years, though if necessary, the
reduction could be brought in in two stages, starting
with 20 years initially. This change would also mean
that these exemptions
could no longer be
used
to withhold
information under the FOI Act once it was 15 (or
20) years old.
You
can be notified by
E-mail when we update this site.
|
