The Scottish Information Commissioner has now published his guidance on
preparing publication schemes.

A one day conference in association with The Office of the Scottish
Information Commissioner and TSO - Edinburgh, 19 November 2003.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act comes into force in
January 2005. Is Scotland prepared? This conference will examine the
scope of the Act and the responsibilities it imposes. Sessions include
preparing for compliance, training, FOI & DP and best practice from
UK and abroad.

Confirmed speakers include Kevin Dunion, Scottish Information
Commissioner; Tim Ellis, Head of Scottish Executive FOI Unit; Iain
Matheson, COSLA; Helena Jaderblom, Council of Europe; and Karen
Williams, ACPOS. For full details and registration see:
http://www.holyroodconferences.com .

Guardian Blog competition

I'm entering the Guardian's blog competition, if you like this blog do let them know!

Steve

Will Scottish FOI lift the lid on PFI?

An interesting article from the Glasgow Herald Oct 17th:

"Kevin Dunion, the new Scottish Executive-appointed information commissioner, has warned that he wants to end the catch-all pretext of commercial confidentiality which currently underpins such contracts."

Issues relating business confidentiality and FOI have rarely been discussed, despite having a big impact in Ireland. To learn more about the Business issues related to FOI there is an excellent business guide prepared by the Constitution Unit at UCL. Costs £5

More doom and gloom on progress to full FOI

Research published by ARk group:

"Research conducted by Ark Consulting at Ark Group’s Knowledge Management for the Public Sector conference, indicates that 78 per cent of public-sector respondents currently have or are developing projects to ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. However, 48 per cent of respondents remain unsure whether they will meet the 2005 deadline."

"Another worrying finding is that less than half of the respondents are able to identify an existing project plan for the implementation of FOIA. Over 40 per cent are also concerned about their access to relevant skills and expertise to plan for implementation"

Do you work on FOI in the public sector - do these findings match with your progress or are these reports ( have been 6 or 7 in the last few months) more about promoting document management tools and consultancy services? Let me know your views : steve_wood62@hotmail.com

MOD catalogues its Nuclear blunders

Guardian 13th October

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1061676,00.html

Ombudsman forces disclosure of list of mishaps from 1960 to 1991 in which weapons were dropped or their carriers had road accidents. Released under the Code of Practice.

Full text of the ombudsman report

Department for Constitutional Affairs - The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information

2002 report has been published
http://www.lcd.gov.uk/foi/codprac02

The Code will become redundant when the FOIA comes into force in 2005, these reports do offer some indcators for Central goevernment and related agencies

Highlights:

"Using the definition of a Code request, outlined above, there were 5,212 recorded Code requests in the year 2002. This represents an 11.65 % increase on the 4,668 recorded Code requests received in 2001, but is less than the 5,969 requests received in 2000"

"The Ombudsman received 42 complaints in 2002, which compares to 33 received in 2001 and 36 received in 2000. She agreed to investigate 23 of them. The Ombudsman completed 19 investigations in 2002, of which 7 concerned complaints received that year."

Records on detainees' treatment sought
Washington Post, 7th Oct 2003

"Several civil liberties and veterans groups plan to file a formal request with the federal government today seeking information on whether prisoners in US custody in the war on terrorism have been tortured or mistreated during interrogations. The request, to be filed under the Freedom of Information Act, follows reports that US authorities have used questionable techniques, including sleep deprivation and the withholding of medications, against prisoners held abroad in the war on terrorism"

REQUESTS under Irish FoI Act drop 53%
RTE Interactive
Figures released by the Irish Government show an average drop of 53%
in requests under the Freedom of Information Act since the beginning of
the year.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1007/foi.html

NHS patients 'to see GP ratings'
BBC News website

"The Freedom of Information Act, which was introduced in 2000, gives people the right to see some information held by public authorities, which relate to how they deal with the public, from 2005. It also requires public authorities, which include local health providers like primary care trusts (PCTs), to start putting plans in place to publish this information. In this instance, it means PCTs must publish the results of the scores awarded to GPs for the management of chronic diseases"




Tony Blair's speech mentions FOI when praising Govt achievements

.....why are we waititng until 2005 for full FOI Tony?