Applicants for Irish FoI data to be named

All Government Departments are set to follow a Department of Communications initiative which publishes names and details of applicants for data under the Freedom of Information Act
Source: Irish Independent 28th July

BBC News feature on FOI and UK Secrecy

Interesting discussion and debate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3088095.stm

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW EXTENDED TO COVER MORE PUBLIC BODIES

Dept for Constitional Affairs Press release

A further 48 public bodies have been added to the list of authorities
subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, following an Order
laid in Parliament today.

The Order laid today includes public bodies such as the Learning and
Skills Council for England, the Small Business Council and the Social
Care Institute for Excellence

UK Information Commissioner's Annual Report

The report for the year ending 31st March 2003 has been published. Relevant to section 49(1) of FOIA (2000)

Not yet visible on the (messy) IC website but is available at http://www.privacydataprotection.co.uk/pdf/annual_report_2003.pdf

The Report states the IC website will be relaunched and redesigned in July.

Reports also states that 357 publications scehemes were approved in the first wave and 456 in the second.

NHS FOI

A discussion forum for FOI in the NHS is now available at http://www.foi.nhs.uk/forum/ you can also play a game to tame the "red tape worms" at http://www.foi.nhs.uk/impl_indep_home.html

The requirement for the NHS is for Publication Schemes to be in place by October 2003.

What price FOIA?

Recent press reports from Australia and Ireland:

DAILY TELEGRAPH (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) 14th July 2003
FOI REQUESTS ARE TOO DEAR FOR MOST
Freedom of Information charges by Commonwealth departments have exploded by 168 per cent since the Government was elected seven years ago.


IRISH TIMES 12th July 2003
OMBUDSMAN SAYS FOI FEES A 'DISINCENTIVE'
There is little doubt that the scale of charges imposed for Irish Freedom of Information (FoI) requests will prove "a massive disincentive" to members of the public, according to the Irish Ombudsman and Information Commissioner, Ms Emily O'Reilly.

Report by the UK parliamentary Ombudmsman on access to Information available

Sixth Report for Session 2002-2003—Access to Official Information- Investigations Completed available in PDF format. Covers cases related to the current non-statutory FOI provision in the UK , the Code of Practice on access to Government Information. Various cases listed give good indications as to likely cases under FOIA.

Example:

Includes a case aginast the Driving Standards Agency for releasing details of the driving test routes for both learner drivers and approved driving instructors in his local area. DSA refused to release the information and cited Exemption 7(b) of the Code (Exemption 7(b) could be used “to protect information relating to the conduct of tests, examinations or audits conducted by a department, where disclosure of the methods used might prejudice the effectiveness of the tests or the attainment of their objectives”). The Ombudsman concluded that Exemption 7(b) did not prevent the release of the information and recommended that details of the test routes in Mr N's local area be released to him, which DSA agreed to do. They also said they would make
information available at a local level by placing on the notice board at each test centre a map highlighting all roads used as test routes. The Ombudsman commended DSA for making the information requested available to Mr N, and welcomed their willingness to make information about the roads used in test routes much more widely available.

Foreign Office guilty in secrecy case

Rob Evans
Monday July 7, 2003 The Guardian

In a boost for freedom of information, the Foreign Office has been found guilty of maladministration by the parliamentary ombudsman. It has been condemned for unjustifiably keeping secret the names of private firms whose executives are allowed to become temporary diplomats in embassies abroad. Upholding a complaint brought by the Guardian against Sir Michael Jay, the Foreign Office permanent secretary, Ms Abraham also condemned the department for failing to answer requests within the time limits promised under a code which allows the public access to government information.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION and George Orwell

The historian Timothy Garton Ash talks about the keeping back of Orwell's list and the current Iraq dossier affair in terms of the general issue of freedom of information. The Freedom of Information Act will come into effect in the area of historical records in 2005 and people will be able to appeal to the information commissioner if the government refuses to give up particular pieces of information. However, the whole of Britain's secret state has a blanket exemption from releasing their records for public scrutiny and the FOI Act cannot do anything to touch this.

Source: Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian 10 July 2003

Irish FOIA: Requests down 30% since curbs

REQUESTS under the Freedom of Information Act have declined by almost30pc since the Government introduced restrictions three months ago.

According to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who obtained the figures in a series ofparliamentary questions, the drop demonstrated how the Government had "achieved their objective in strangling this essential instrument of openness and transparency."

He said new charges, from next Monday, will see the trend continue.

The highest decline in requests was to the Department of the Taoiseach, down 70pc, followed by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, down 66pc. Other Departments tosee a dramatic fall in numbers of requests include Foreign Affairs, down 65pc, and theDepartment of Finance, down 64pc.

Report: Irish Independent 5th July 2003

Newly released guidance on the current open government code of practice on access to information

The Campaign for Freedom of Information has produced an electronic version of the Government's Guidance on Interpretation of the open government code. This was not previously available on the Internet and has been reproduced with the permission of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

See: http://www.cfoi.org.uk/opengov.html#og

Introductory Guidance on the Freedom of Information Act (2000) available

Quote on the IC website "This publication represents our preliminary views of the Act and its interpretation and it is my intention to continue to develop this guidance, increasing its detail and authority as my Office gains practical experience of applying the new legislation"

Recent press release from the Irish Information Commissioner provides some useful data about the types of requests in 2002. It also announces a charge of £150 for appeals to the commsioner, the effect of which will be monitored.

Breakdown of Requests 2002

Type
Journalists 12%
Business 11%
Oireachtas Members 1%
Staff of Public Body 7%
Others 69%


Of Which:
Personal 8850 51%
Non-personal 7936 46%
Mixed 410 3%


Full text of the Press release: Irish IOC website

The TSO report highlighting the inadquecies of Government preparation for FOI is receiving a far maount of press, it has been reported in Information World Review and Knowledge Management Magazine