Report of the CILIP Freedom of Information panel

The Report of the Freedom of Information Panel to CILIP Council is now available. Report can be dowloaded in PDF. Contains a useful overview of FOI developments and practical recommendations for action in 2004. The panel is looking for new members.

(note: CILIP is the Chartered Intstitute for Library and Information Professionals formerly the Library Association)

FOI in Australia is stifled by state secrecy

Only one in every five requests to government departments
for documents under the Freedom of Information Act was successful in 2002-03.

Source: News.com.au

Interestingly the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper was twice denied access to the results of state-wide literacy and numeracy tests that would have enabled parents to compare the performances of Victorian primary schools. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority argued the release was not in the public interest. This information is freely available in the UK (see DFES website)

Irish FOI requests show marked drop since fees introduced

Read the full story on the Irish Times website

Praise for Hutton inquiry openness is watered down

An interesting debate about the role of FOI is taking place inside Government:

Guardian 22nd Dec.

David Hencke writes: "The Cabinet Office has altered an official report to disguise the extent to which the Hutton inquiry has encouraged open government.....The report initially highlighted the importance of Lord Hutton's unprecedented release of confidential documents during his inquiry into the death of David Kelly. But it was redrafted before publication to remove positive references to Hutton as an example of good practice......It is understood that Lord Falconer went as far as arguing that the government should make a dramatic gesture by announcing changes to the yet unimplemented Freedom of Information Act by abolishing the ministerial veto to stop publication as a last resort "

No sign of the report mentioned anywhere yet, I've emailed the Cabinet Office for publication details, will post more information when I get it.

Merry Xmas to all Blog readers. First edition of the monthly newsletter will appear in the new year

Steve

Information Commissioner appoints new non-executive
board members


The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has today announced the
appointment of four non-executive members to his management board. The
appointments are the first non-executive posts on the Information Commissioner’s
Office (ICO) board.

As members of the management board, the non-executive members will have a wide
range of responsibilities including contributing to the office’s strategic approach,
reviewing business plans and performance, ensuring high standards of financial
control and risk management and resolving major policy issues. The non-executive
members will not be involved in individual casework.

Press release IC website

Who qualifies as a someone who can sign an exmption certificate for S36 "s36 - exemption for information which would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs""

Interesting debate on the JISCmail FOI list on this issue. Have a look at the list of qualified people able to sign the exemption

Environmental regulations/FOI

Did you know?Public authorities are obliged to provide access to information about the environment under the Environmental Info Regs 1992 (SI 3240) (as amended by the Environmental Information (Amendment) Regulations 1998.
Environmental information is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Public authorities will have to decide whether any information that has been requested is environmental information and deal with them as set out in the Environmental Information Regulations

FOI.net: excellent FOI resource

The website FOI.net is one the best websites offering an overview of FOI worldwide. It is maintained by Alasdair Roberts, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Campbell Public Affairs Institute, Syracuse University, NY.

The website includes a database of information requests submitted under Canadian FOI. UK public authorities can learn from the types of requests made in Canada by using the database - well worth a look.

There is also a wide range of free research papers to download.

There is a free book to download called "National Security and Open Government: Striking the right balance", including a chapter entitled National Security and Open Government in the United Kingdom

Another part of the site worth bookmarking is the links page, covering FOI around the world

Guardian website: Falklands warships carried nuclear weapons, MoD admits

In an article from Saturday's Guardian: MoD has finally admitted that ships during the Falklands war carried Nuclear Weapons, the newspaper has been fighting a long battle to have documents released under the current (but soon to be defunct) Open Government Code. The MoD has released some information after criticism from the Parliamentary Ombudsman earlier this year

Will FOI open up this type of information? will the Information Commissioner agree with the use of the public interest test for defence information?

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Code of Practice on Records Management

The Code of Practice on Records Management under section 61 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 has now been issued and is available on the Scottish Executive's Web site.

Source: Info@UK (British Council)

Annual Report on implementation of UK FOIA

There is also a press release available, including comments by Lord Filkin, the Minister responsible for the Act

Annual Report on implmentation of UK FOIA

The above report has been published (pdf) on the Dept of Constititutional Affairs website. The report discusses practical issues such as communication and awareness in the run up to 2005. The Hutton enquiry gets a brief mention but is not discussed in the context of the Act.