Guardian : Our right to know puts councils on the spot

"Time is pressing for local authorities facing a radical overhaul of their information management systems to comply with the forthcoming Freedom of Information Act". Article overviews local council preparations.

The Guardian 28th Jan.

New Foreign and Commonwealth Office FOI site

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has launched a new Freedom of Information homepage. This will be updated frequently with FCO FOI news and includes the new guidance pamphlet Freedom of Information: it's coming your way in downloadable PDF format.

The homepage can be found at http://www.fco.gov.uk/foi

Thanks to Helen Child at FCO for this information

Freedom of Information Act Audits

An FOIA audit "files simultaneous FOIA requests at multiple agencies and offices, and compiles the results in order to identify the best and worst practices". An interesting area to think about in the UK context in terms of testing in the first few years of operation. The concept has been developed in the US, see an example from George Washington University.

If you would be interested in collaborating in an FOIA audit in 2005 let me know.(steve_wood62@hotmail.com)

FOIA on the agenda in US elections

Article in Wired magazine. Democrat Politicians offer to reverse changes to FOIA.

New Book on Freedom of Information May 2004

To be published by Facet Publishing May 2004, thanks to Mark O'Loughlin for this information

Further details

Freedom of Information : A practical guide to implementation by Kelvin Smith

Key areas covered include:

background to the act
the legislation
exemptions
publication schemes
enforcement and appeal
records management
data protection, human rights and other legislation
staffing and training

Kelvin Smith is Head of the Cataloguing and Accessioning Unit and Records
Management Consultant in the Records Management Department of the National
Archives, Kew.

New documents added to the Information Commissioner's website

FOI Personal Information Awareness Guidance 1


FOI Information provided in confidence Awareness Guidance No 2

Immediate changes to FOIA ruled out by No 10

In the wake of the Review of Government Communications Report no changes to the FOIA are in the pipeline.

Source: Financial Times 20th Jan.

Unique archive aids Dounreay decommissioning

The Scotsman (registration needed)

"A new era of access to information has helped create an archive of material covering the 50-year history of the Dounreay nuclear plant from its development in the 1950s to ongoing work to knock it down...... Dounreay spokesman said the Freedom of Information Act, which comes into force on 1 January next year, was one of the drivers for bringing together the documents, previously stored at various locations, to one central archive"

Cabinet Office Report: An Independent Review of Government Communications

The Report is now availble on the Cabinet Office Website

Key findings relating to FOI

"We recommend that, when implementing the main provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act, the overriding presumption should be to disclose"

Page 25 Effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Times: "Curb spindoctors and lift veil of Whitehall secrecy, says report"

The Times (19th Jan.) The Report "commissioned by Mr Blair to try to rebuild trust between the Government, the media and the public, will also say that the Freedom of Information Act passed by Labour is woefully inadequate for a modern democracy", will be published by the Cabinet Office today (19th Jan). Will post details as soon as I get them.

Sample chapter

A sample chapter for the text: "The Law of Freedom of Information" by John Macdonald QC (Oxford University Press) is available online. Published in 2003. The sample gives a useful overview of the Act.

Public Administration Select Committee live today (Thursday 15th Jan 10.00)

The Committee (mentioned in my previous post) is being broadcast live on the Parliament TV website. An archive version should also be available

FOI article in new publication, VIP

Vip, a new information news publication has launched the first issue, available free at http://www.vivavip.com

It includes an article on the implications of the UK FOIA by Martin White of Intranet Focus Ltd

Guardian challenges government secrecy

Labour politicians are fighting a legal battle to keep secret the fact that officials prevented a minister buying a cheap car, The Guardian can disclose.

Select Committee to discuss Open Government Code

David Hencke and Rob Evans, Journalists, from The Guardian and Maurice Frankel, Director, The Campaign for Freedom of Information; Mr Edward Adams, formerly Head of Information Rights Division, Department for Constitutional Affairs will appear before the Public Administration Select Committee today to discuss the work of the Parliamentary Ombudsman who polices the current non statutory Open government Code (this will cease to operate from Jan 05)

Judges order City to release more Records about 9/11

A state appeals court has ordered New York City to grant expanded public access to records about its response to the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

New York Times 11th Jan

UK FOIA training

Forthcoming courses on FOI at venues throughout the UK incl. Belfast 28th Jan and Glasgow 19th Jan

See www.actnowtraining.co.uk for full details

FOI article published

I have published an article in the Winter edition (Vol 3 num3/4) in the Journal of Legal Information Management entitled:

"From the Hutton Enquiry to driving test routes. The UK Freedom of Information Act (2000): Implications for information provision in the UK."

The Journal have kindly allowed me permission to reproduce for Blog readers at :

http://cwis.livjm.ac.uk/bus/cilm/limwinter03.pdf

You will need Acrobat Reader to view

PM under pressure on background papers

The Guardian 7th Jan.

"A ruling by Ann Abraham, who is the parliamentary ombudsman, will force Whitehall to make public all the confidential background information given to ministers every time they answer an MP's question"

Part of the Open up Parliament campaign the Guardian is running

Newsletter

From next month the newsletter will be sent via the Yahoo groups service. If you have already sent a subscription email to me, your details have been transferred to this service.

Steve

FT.com : Blair urged to counter secrecy in Whitehall

Article in the Financial Times states that the Cabinet Office Report on FOI will be published in th next few days. Looks like the report is pushing for a more open FOI regime: "The committee recommends the government waive the ministerial right of veto altogether. It proposes that the "harm test" should be toughened to prevent publication only where there is a danger of doing "substantial harm". It also proposes that, where possible, existing "class exemptions" should not apply"

The substantial harm test was in the orginal White Paper published back in 1997.

Press release: Foreign and Commonwleath Office Website "ONE YEAR TO GO - FCO COUNTS DOWN TO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT"

Details: FCO website

"FCO is today publishing a new guide for staff - 'FOI: It's Coming Your Way' - to provide clear guidance on how to operate the new access regime" Copies can be requested from the FCO press office.

New publications on the Department of Constitutional Affaits website

Model Action plan for implementation (Dec 2003)

Quote from the DCA website : "The Model Action Plan is designed for use by all public authorities that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The MAP is not designed to be a detailed implementation plan. It is recognised that each public authority is different, and that each has its own particular organisational structure and needs. A general document such as this cannot address these specific needs, nor can it be applied to unique organisational structures, and it is not intended to be used in this way."


Delegate Pack from the FOI Information Roadshows run by the Department during 2003

Contains some useful powerpoint slides and FOI training scenarios

Government ministers to retain 150 'secrecy laws'

Independent News article about the repeal of legislation that overlaps with FOIA (2000)