MPs warn of freedom act chaos

Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
Tuesday December 7, 2004
The Guardian

"Many of the 100,000 public bodies whose files will be opened from January 1 when the Freedom of Information Act comes into force are ill-prepared and will struggle to cope with a flood of requests, according to a report today by MPs.

The constitutional affairs select committee blames the Department for Constitutional Affairs for failing to provide "strategic control, leadership or early enough guidance to public bodies on the technical aspects of implementation".

The full report will be available later today at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmconst.htm