FOI funding in local government

It has often been unclear what funding (if any) has been made specifaclly available for FOI in local government. A source in local government has sent me the following ODPM statement.

"Additional funding was included in the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) for local, police and fire authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to cover the additional costs of implementing the Freedom of Information Act. Funding of £9m was included in 2005-06 to support these authorities . The RSG is a general grant which is used by local authorities todecide their spending priorities. As the money is not hypothecated, it is not possible to say how much was allocated to a particular authority for FOI for the current financial year."


General information about Local Government Finance: www.local.dtlr.gov.uk