Further sections have been added to the blog: User and Practioner guides and a book list. These will continue to be updated, please send me any further links that may be of interest

Campaign for FOI Users' guide

The Campaign has produced a users' guide to the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and new rights to see personal data about you held by public authorities. The guide covers both the UK and Scottish legislation. More detailed guides on the exemptions and public interest test will be published shortly. If you would like to be informed when these become available, send an email to admin@cfoi.demon.co.uk asking to join the 'CFOI Updates' mailing list

Download guide (PDF)

Warning over Microsoft Word files

Some important points for public authorities to consider and also issues for clarification: should meta data be released as part of an FOI request? Much was learnt from meta data in word documents released from the Hutton enquiry. Many public authorities are using specialist FOI software such as Privasoft that will remove any traces of meta data and output FOI released documents as PDF files.

The issues for requesters are this: if you are asking for electronic documents as your preferred format you may have an interest in meta data -the authority should at least inform you as to what has been removed and why and offer the chance to appeal.

Issues for public authorities: there is a need for consistent policies and their application and use of technical solutions.


BBC News 28th January - Warning over Microsoft Word files
"Writing a Microsoft Word document can be a dangerous business, according to document security firm Workshare. Up to 75% of all business documents contained sensitive information most firms would not want exposed, a survey by the firm revealed. To make matters worse 90% of those companies questioned had no idea that confidential information was leaking....The Remove Hidden Data add-in is a tool that you can use to remove personal or hidden data that might not be immediately apparent when you view the document in your Microsoft Office application," says the instructions on Microsoft's website. Microsoft recommends that the tool is used before people publish any Word document"

Lift lid on performance, says venture capital chief

The Sunday Times 30th January- Lift lid on performance, says venture capital chief
"BRITISH buyout firms, which own companies employing a fifth of the private-sector workforce, are willing to open their books to greater public scrutiny, the industry’s leader said last week......Until now, information on the returns generated has been restricted to fund investors. Under the new Freedom of Information Act, they are coming under pressure to report profits publicly. The industry has traditionally restricted this information to its clients."

Police told 'avoid hunt arrests'

BBC News 28th Jan - Police told 'avoid hunt arrests'
"Police may decide not to break up illegal fox hunts if the ban is upheld, BBC News has learned. Instead they may video the hunt for future prosecution, according to police guidelines released under the Freedom of Information Act."

Freedom of information - at a price

Article from Norfolk Eastern Daily Press
"Hidden charges in new freedom of information laws have created a postcode lottery that could see councils charge up to £250 for information that would be free from another authority.An EDP investigation has found a loophole in the law means public bodies can choose to levy hefty bills for answering questions that are supposed to be dealt with for free.....Its 50p per photocopy charge is 10 times the cost of the cheapest councils locally, with both South Norfolk Council and Norfolk County Council charging 5p a page....South Norfolk says it will waive charges of less than £25 - up to to 499 A4 pages at their 5p rate.....The same information would cost £249.50 from West Norfolk"

Workshop on FOI and the new Environmental Information Regulations

Full day workshop on FOI and the new Environmental Information Regulations. The details:

London – 16th Feb

Manchester – 16th March

Cost : £199 plus vat

Full details and online booking at www.actnow.org.uk or ring 01924 451054.

Legal advice - Iraq war

Heather Brooke has published full details of her correspondence about her requests for the legal advice relating to the Iraq war. See all the letters sent and received at www.yrtk.org

Lord Falconer Speech: inaugural DCA/Constitution Unit lecture on Freedom on Information

Lord Falconer's speech: Freedom of Information: The beginning of a new chapter in openness, CBI Conference Centre, 25 January 2005 is available on the DCA website.

The speech discusses:

-what we're doing on Freedom of Information, and perhaps more importantly, why we’re doing it
- how Freedom of Information has gone so far since its implementation date of January 1 – including something on the Government’s decision we have announced today on the Attorney-General’s advice on Iraq
- and to say something about the challenges ahead, including about how we might assess FOI in the future as it beds down to be part of the fabric of how we now do government in this country

Good Governance Standards for the Public Sector'

An independent commission, set up last year, has published ' Good Governance Standards for the Public Sector'. The publication is a response to a report from the Office for Public management in 2003 which showed severe weaknesses in the governance of public bodies. The report looked across the public sector including police, schools, health service, quangos and local government, which in total spend some 500 billion pounds annually. It found that many governors were unclear about the process of governance and confused about their responsibilities.Taken from publicnet-admin@publicnet.co.uk list

Guardian - websites and FOI

The web is now the place to find out about government. Michael Cross uncovers the sites making the most of the Freedom of Information Act. Interesting article highlighting best practice in proactive releases of information and where to start on Government websites.

Thursday January 27, 2005 The Guardian

Media round-up

This is North Scotland 22nd January - Confidential deal cited in row over police cars
"The chief constable of Northern Constabulary yesterday defended his decision to keep secret how much his new luxury company car was costing Highland taxpayers....He said the force negotiated a "significant discount" and cited the Freedom of Information Act for not revealing the cost.....Mr Latimer added: "I would be quite happy to disclose those figures and seek guidance from the board . . . because there are exemptions within the act with regard to commercial confidence that I could choose, as chief constable, not to disclose at this meeting." He also said there was an outside risk Ford could sue for breaching confidentiality. A Land Rover spokesman declined to comment on the likelihood of suing the police and, when asked for the vehicles' cost said: "We don't go into that kind of detail and that would apply to any kind of customer."

FT.com 26th January - Advice on legality of war to remain secret
"Media organisations, including the Financial Times, were sent a letter refusing the document on the grounds it is protected by legal professional privilege."

The Scotsman 27th January - Anti-secrecy law blitz on expenses 'swindles'

The Times 27th January - Judges are ready to end secrecy to prove that there is no bias
"The secrecy of the family courts system would be stripped away under radical reforms being drawn up by senior judges which would open hearings to the public"

Information Act fails to uncover war advice

Independent, 26 January - Information Act fails to uncover war advice
In response to a request by The Independent, to disclose legal advice which allowed the government to go to war, the Department of Constitutional Affairs stated that the Freedom of Information Act provided that information 'was exempt if covered by legal professional privilege'.

Media news

The Scotsman 25th January - Iraq War Legal Advice 'Exempt from Information Law'

The Guardian 26th January - Blair refuses FoI request for Iraq war legal advice

Awareness Guidance 25 and 28

Further guidance has been added to the Information Commissioner's website:

Awareness Guidance 25 - Effective Conduct of Public Affairs

Awareness Guidance 28 - Parliamentary Privilege

Requests for disclosure of the Attorney General’s advice

DCA disclosure log has been updated with released documents, the DCA are offering links to PDFs of released documents, includes a response to Requests for disclosure of the Attorney General’s advice on the legality of military action against Iraq: "The Government therefore considers that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining each exemption clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosing the advice." Looks like as expected it will go to appeal

Other releases listed:

25 Jan 2005 Establishing a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (2000)
This policy paper was produced in January 2000 by Sir Thomas Legg. It outlines a plan for converting the Law Lords into a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

25 Jan 2005 The Law Lords and the Lord Chancellor: Historical background (1999)
This document was produced in December 1999 by the Human Rights Act division of the Lord Chancellor's Department. It is covers the history of the Law Lords and the Lord Chancellor from 1600s until the present day.

25 Jan 2005 Judicial Appointments Commission, draft consultation paper (1997)
This draft paper was produced in 1997 by the Lord Chancellor's Department. It asked whether a judicial appointments commission was the best way to modernise the appointments system. It was not released as a public consultation at the time.

25 Jan 2005 The Attorney General’s advice on the war in Iraq (March 2003)
The Government has received a number of requests for information on the Attorney General’s advice on the legality of the military action taken against Iraq. A statement has been released explaining the Government’s response to these

Publicity in Democratic Decision Making
Bringing social scientists and political philosophers together

May 23, 2005
International Workshop
Chaire Hoover d'ethique economique et sociale
Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Convenor : Axel Gosseries (gosseries@etes.ucl.ac.be)

This international workshop will confront social science and philosophical perspectives on the extent to which publicity/transparency should be regarded as a desirable goal from the point of view of a theory of democracy. The working language will be English. Five papers will be presented. Except for the one presented as a video-conference, each of them will be introduced by the speaker during a period of 35 minutes, followed by a 10 minutes comment prepared by each discussant, and a 25 minutes general debate on the paper. The reference papers will be pre-circulated via E-mail. Participation is free of charge. Prior inscription is compulsory however. E-mails should be sent to Therese Davio at Davio@etes.ucl.ac.be, with « Inscription Publicity workshop » as message title. IMPORTANT : In order to allow for an in-depth debate, the number of participants will be limited in principle to 50, on a first come, first served basis.

Program

Morning Session - Chairperson : Justine Lacroix (ULB)

9h00-9h15 : Introductory note

9h15-10h35 : Prof. David Stasavage (London School of Economics, International Relations).
Publicity of debate in the US Fed. Evidence and broader relevance
Discussants : Geert Demuijnck (Lille) + TBA

10h35-10h50 : Coffee Break

10h50-12h10 : Prof. Alasdair Roberts (Syracuse University, Public Administration).
Inside the Glass House. Can surveillance of government corrode governance?
Discussants : Frédéric Varone (UCL) + Hervé Pourtois (UCL)

12h10-13h30 : Lunch Break

Afternoon Session - Chairperson : TBA

13h30-14h50: Dr. Daniel Naurin (University of Göteborg, Political Science).
Transparency and Lobbying in the EU
Discussants : TBA + Laurent de Briey (UCL)

15h00-16h20 : Prof. Robert MacCoun (Univ. of California at Berkeley, Social Psychology)
Publicity and the judicial process
Discussants : Patricia Popelier (Antwerpen) + Alain Marciano (Reims)

16h20-17h20 : Prof. Eugene Borgida and Brad Lippmann (Univ. Minnesota, Social Psy.)
Media Coverage of the Courtroom (video-conference).
Discussants : Fr. Tulkens (FUSL) + TBA

17h20-18h : Concluding debate

Times used FOI to investigate Police costs

The Times 24th January - Police spent £900,000 to give Hamza street pulpit
"The Metropolitan Police has disclosed, after a successful Freedom of Information Act request by The Times, that the cost of supervising weekly gatherings outside Finsbury Park Mosque, North London, was £874,387. The figure is far in excess of previous estimates for the 22-month police operation. Before the introduction of the new legislation on January 1, Scotland Yard had refused to discuss the cost of policing Hamza’s Friday prayer meetings."

MoD tops table of requests for far to Central Govt

FT.com 24th January - MoD targeted for freedom of information queries

"The Ministry of Defence has been the target of more freedom of information requests than any other government department, reflecting concerns over Iraq. But a Financial Times survey shows the predicted deluge of FoI requests in the first weeks of the new openness regime has failed to materialise, suggesting that business and the public have yet to wake up to the opportunities offered by the legislation."

Article includes some figures of total requesys so far, I've summarised here in, as they spread across the article. Across central government, informal reports indicated there were about 900 requests in the first week, according to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which oversees the FoI regime

Home Office refused to comment
Foreign Office refused to comment
The MoD and its agencies - 443 requests
Cabinet Office - 268 requests
DFES - 92 requests
Dept of Health - 80 requests
Treasury -40 requests
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - 5-100 requests
DTI - 72 requests
Dept of Transport - 84- plus 40 to agencies
Dept of Constitutional Affairs - 82 requests
Dept of Culture Media and Sport - 79 requests

'Confidential US security documents' flaunted online

ZDNet UK January 24 - 'Confidential US security documents' flaunted online
"Information from the US Department of Homeland Security appears to have reached the public domain via Google's Web cache. A Web site has published what it claims are confidential documents from the US Department of Homeland Security relating to possible terrorist activity."

Falconer to curb secrecy of ministers

The Observer 9th January - Falconer to curb secrecy of ministers
"The cabinet minister responsible for the new Freedom of Information Act has said that ministers' diaries and details of who they meet should be opened up to public scrutiny.

In a move that would transform the way government operates, Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said he could see no reason why the people ministers meet on official business and those who represent outside interests, such as lobbyists, should be kept a secret."

New cases on the Irish Information Commissioner's website

http://www.oic.gov.ie/new.htm

Letter Decision:
Case 000103 - Ms. X and the Former Eastern Health Board
Case 030421 - Mr X and the Department of Finance
Case 040004 and 040005 - Mr. X and an Institute
Case 030361 and 030699 - Mr. X and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Case 030622 - Deputy Fergus O'Dowd and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

High Court Judgements
Mr. Barney Sheedy V The Information Commissioner and the Minister for Education and Science and the Irish Times Limited (First and Second Notice Parties)

Case 000103 may be of particular interest in comparison with the UK situation relating to restaraunt inpsections- Access to a report by the former Eastern Health Board of its investigation into an outbreak of salmonella amongst customers of a Take-away - whether the report was prohibited from release under an enactment not specified in the Third Schedule to the FOI Act. The Third Schedule of the FOI Act specifies certain provisions of various enactments which prohibit the release of information, but which are excluded from the application of section 32 of the FOI Act. S.I. No. 85 of 1998 is not contained in the Third Schedule to the FOI Act. She concluded that the wording of Article 12 of Council Directive 89/397/EEC, taken together with the wording of the Directive's preamble (that legitimate rights of an enterprise, such as manufacturing secrecy and the right of appeal, must be preserved) infers that the Directive's objective in this particular regard is to ensure: that inspectors do not reveal trade or manufacturing secrets to which they gain access in the course of performing the various operations that comprise control and that inspectors do not reveal information that would prejudice the right to appeal of the affected parties. Article 12 states:
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that natural and legal persons concerned by the inspection have a right of appeal against measures taken by the competent authority for the purpose of inspection.
2. They shall prescribe that inspectors shall be bound by professional secrecy.

See: Official control of foodstuffs (89/397/EEC)

This Directive was implemented in GB through the Food Safety Act 1990. and through statutory Codes of Practice that guide GB enforcement authorities and which are made under that Act. Parallel legislation operates in Northern Ireland. More on FSA website

Decision:
Having carried out a review under section 34(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (as amended), I hereby annul the decision of the former Eastern Health Board to refuse to release to you the final report of its investigation into the outbreak of salmonella at the [name deleted] Take-away in October 1999. Instead, I direct that the report be released in full, subject only to the deletion of the name and location of the distribution agent on page 5 of the report, the location of the egg supplier in the last paragraph of page 5 of the report, and the name and location of the same egg supplier, on page 1 of Appendix I to the report.

Version 2.2 of the Government Category List

Version 2.2 of the Government Category List detailing standard headings for all services - has been released, with several new taxonomies for the UK public sector. New categories include 'Language policy,' 'Remand' and 'Students.' Suggestions for
updating the list will be considered over the coming months:

More details

Taken from E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN
- ISSUE 178, 21 January 2005.
http://www.headstar.com/egb

New FOI site

Another new FOI site, aimed at journalists: http://www.accessall.info/. Contains a log of FOI requests

Journalists fear FOI Act will spill their beans

Scotsman 23rd Jan - Journalists fear FOI Act will spill their beans
"JOURNALISTS are concerned that as an unintended consequence of the Freedom of Information Act, detailed research behind articles they are working on will be posted on the Scottish Executive’s website before it has been published"

Labour checks Howard's record

Independent 23 January - Labour checks Howard's record
"Labour Party researchers are using the Freedom of Information Act to try to winkle out information on Michael Howard's record as a government minister.

The request for government papers dating back to the late 1980s or early 1990s will open the Labour Party to the accusation that it is planning a campaign of dirty tricks. But it says that since Mr Howard is currently the only alternative to Tony Blair as a possible Prime Minister, his record in office is a legitimate election issue"

NHS knew blood for tranfusions was contaminated with hepatitis

Sunday Herald (Scotland) 23rd January - NHS knew blood for tranfusions was contaminated with hepatitis
"Government refuses public inquiry into unsafe practice
By Liam McDougall, Home Affairs Editor
BLOOD from Scottish prisoners continued to be used in NHS transfusions during the 1980s despite serious concerns that the practice was unsafe.
Confidential minutes from meetings held by directors of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) also show the agency was taking increasing quantities of blood from American troops and that doctors knew in 1981 the blood they were buying in from the US was contaminated with at least two forms of the hepatitis virus.The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, are now to be used by lawyers to build up a case for the government to order a judicial inquiry into how thousands of patients in the UK – including hundreds of Scots – contracted HIV and hepatitis from contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s."

International Freedom of Information Expression Exchange

IFEX (International Freedom of Information Expression Exchange) has a websits relating to overseas FOI. Some useful links, though the materials date from 2003.

Chiefs of Staff Committee files for 1974

Thanks To David (A Blog reader) for more news about the asbestos contiminated files at the MoD. (see previous story) In a repsonse from the National Archives about Chiefs of Staff Committee files for 1974 that should have been transfered to the National Archives as part of the DEFE 4 and DEFE 5 series in their catalogue David has been informed that they have been caught in the contamination and a project has been set up to consider what to do. It is understood that over 7000 files are effected.

FOI/Business story

Sunday Herald (Scotland) 23rd January - No hiding placeo

Good article, discuses the business issues related to FOI in some depth

"Confidentiality used to be taken as given in the business world – not any more. The new Freedom of Information Act means that company secrets are up for grabs, so beware
By Ken Symon, Business Editor....John Downie of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says: “It’s a very tricky situation, especially in the first few months. A lot of businesses will be worried about their information being made public.“Businesses will have to face up to the fact that if they want to pitch for the £5 billion of public sector spending, they are going to have to manage this issue. There is no getting away from it, more information is going to be made public.”

Housing and FOI

An interesting posting by Heather Brooke, on Your Right to Know about housing associations and registered social landlords (RSLs) not being covered by the FOIA. Heather suggests there will be pressure for them to be added. Heather provides some useful links for housing related public bodies who are covered by the FOIA, it is also worth noting that Housing Action Trusts are covered e.g HAT Liverpool

"Housing Action Trusts were introduced as part of the 1988 Housing Act with the aim of regenerating a local community by tackling an area’s social, economic and living conditions. They are non-departmental bodies, established after a successful ballot of residents, charged with the management of a defined area for a fixed period. Their responsibilities include:
• Developing and refurbishing homes
• Encouraging greater jobs and training opportunities for their residents
• Delivering a good housing management service
• Providing community initiatives and facilities to all sections of the local population"

BPM software helps council meet FOI Act

From VNUnet 19th Jan

"Portsmouth City Council is using business process management (BPM) software to to adhere to the Freedom of Information Act. The council is using web-based workflow software from BPM supplier Metastorm that integrates with its existing helpdesk and call centre systems. It automatically assigns actions and queries based on pre-defined rules."

United Kingdom: Freedom of Information and Blogging: A Potentially Dangerous Mix?

Article by Richard Best, published by:

Mondaq 19 January 2005

Article abstract:
"The Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FOIA") gives people access to information held by public authorities which in many instances they could not previously access. Blogging gives people a publishing power they did not previously have. From commercial and legal perspectives, their combination may make for a potentially dangerous mix. Blogs which at least track Freedom of Information Act requests, such as the "UK FOIA Requests" blog (http://www.spy.org.uk/foia/), are already springing up and, going by the US experience, it would come as little surprise to find bloggers posting copies of documents obtained under FOIA to their blogs. In the fervour surrounding both the Act's coming into force and blogging's power to the people, it may be easy to lose sight of the fact that existing copyright and other legal protections have not fallen away. This article notes some of the risks facing originators of sensitive information supplied to public authorities and bloggers who obtain and choose to publish it."

Comment: This article certainly raises some interesting issues for bloggers and web publishers to think about. The article is certainly right in thinking many FOI requesters will receive and publish information without thought. It is certainly important that bloggers and web publishers consider the risks related to publishing third party materials obtained via FOIA that could be potentially breaking Copyright. The guidance to public authorities to make this clear before releasing is valid: "Originators of copyright material supplied to public authorities can take steps to minimise the risk of copying and posting to blogs (or other websites) by marking their documents with copyright notices, not because such notices are required to preserve copyright but because many people do not understand copyright laws and may innocently break them".

The article goes further to suggest that defamation may be also an issue: "a blogger should not do, at least not before considering certain legal questions, is post FOIA-obtained documents or relevant portions of them which are defamatory of a person or company. Again, although a public authority's release of such documents under FOIA does not expose the authority to an action for defamation (unless the documents were released with malice), the authority's statutory protection does not apply to the recipient. Questions of separate defences to an action for defamation may arise, but that's a separate issue". This is a difficult area, I'm not aware of any cases from overseas where this has happened, I will do some further research and post more if I find it. The whole issue of defemation and the Internet is very complicated due to the issues of jurisdiction, the ease of internet communications challenges many assumptions that underlie traditional defamation law. Further reading of:

Weaver R, 'Defamation Law in Turmoil: The Challenges Presented by the Internet', 2000 (3) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT).
http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/00-3/weaver.html

may be of interest related to this topic. Would a case against the publisher of FOIA documents if they were anonymous and held on an overseas server be possible? Would the documents be traceable to the requestor?

Other issues related to Copyright that might also be of interest that weren't mentioned in the article relate to when Copyright is held by the public authority: it is easy to apply for click-use licence from HMSO for Crown Copyright in many cases of reuse and the forthcoming implementation of the EU Directive on Public Sector Information will move the UK closer to the US in allowing reuse of public sector copyright material. (More details on US Copyright law)

Comments posted here are not legal advice and merely the views of the author

Wales: FOI

The Welsh Assembly a published a new Code on 1 January 2005 (the Assembly agreed it in Plenary on 8 December) together with a revised set of procedures. The new Code can be found at www.information.wales.gov.uk together with our procedures. There will be further internal guidance issued to officials as and when it's developed (and, if necessary, translated into Welsh). The same site also has the decision reports from Ministerial decisions and our disclosure log. Thanks to Jeremy to the National Assembly for the information.

MHRA to let patients report side-effects online

From e-health 18th Jan:

"The DH have implemented changes to the way that adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are reported and publicised, including allowing patients to report reactions bysubmitting electronically through a new website and making drug reaction data available online.The new forms, which are being set up at www.yellowcard.gov.uk, will allow medication users to report any ADRs they encounter, as part of an extension of the existing Yellow Card reaction reporting scheme. According to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), this will help them "better understand the patient’s own experience and perspective of adverse drug reactions". Data from clinicians and patients will also be available online in an anonymised format, along with guidance on interpretation, in the form of a drug analysis print (DAP). Less commonly viewed data will be available on request through the Freedom of Information Act 2000."

MoD release wounded figures

Daily Telegraph 19th Jan - 790 British troops seriously wounded but MoD denies cover-up
"The Ministry of Defence said yesterday a total of 790 British soldiers had been seriously wounded in Iraq but rejected claims that it had sought to cover up the figure.The MoD, which disclosed the information in response to media inquires under the Freedom of Information Act, suggested that the number of seriously injured flown to Britain for treatment was always available to anyone who wanted to ask"

Secondary FOI legislation

The following Statutory instruments have been published:

No. 13 The Information Tribunal (National Security Appeals)Rules 2005
"This instrument makes procedural rules for appeals before the National Security Appeals Panel of the Information Tribunal. Such appeals may be brought under section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998, or section 60 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 60 of the 2000 Act creates a right of appeal against Ministerial certificates issued under section 23(2) or 24(3) of that Act. Certificates issued under thses sections certify that exemption from the provisions of the Act is or was required for the purpose of safeguarding national security, or because the information to which the certificate relates was directly or indirectly supplied by, or relates to, any of the bodies specified in section 23(3) of the 2000 Act."

No. 14 The Information Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals)
"The Information Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals) Rules 2005 set out the rights of appeal conferred by the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Rules allow that any person served with an enforcement notice, information notice or special information notice by the Information Commissioner has the right to appeal against the notice to the Tribunal.

IFTI Watch

http://www.freedominfo.org/ifti.htm

Washington, D.C. - The executive directors of the Asian Development Bank on Jan. 21 will discuss a "working paper" outlining plans to revamp the ADB disclosure policy that critics say remains deficient, according to a news item posted today on freedominfo.org's FTI Watch column. The closed session is not intended as a decision-making meeting, but after months of drafting, the briefing signals that the policy rewrite is nearing completion.

I posted this last week, but have republished due to interest:

Comment: Proactive releases of information and FOI request publishing

The Publication scheme element of the Freedom of Information Act has garned little publicity over the last few weeks but they have an important role in making sure information is placed visibly in the public domain. It is fair to say that that many organisations have made little effort in setting up their schemes, whilst there are some pockets of good practice out there for example the Metropolitan police and the Welsh Assembly. The Publication schemes for Central Government have now been in place for over 2 years and many have changed little in that time. In February 2004 the Camapaign for FOI published a documents reviewing the central government schemes and highlighting best practice. Now is time for all schemes to be renewed and improved.

Lord Falconer did make some reference to this in his speech back in November:
"All departments have publication schemes in place already. What we need to do now is develop this. My department is encouraging others within government to review their publication schemes continually, so that all meet a 'gold standard', giving the public easy access to information without the need to make a request." The DCA have now produced a policy paper on this. The paper suggests standards in schemes related to:

-A standard approach to the release of contractual information
-Facts and analysis behind policy decisions
-Procurement, grants, loans and guarantees
-Publishing all information of general interest released in response to individual FOI requests
(In relation to the latter it is now interesting to see that the DCA have added a disclosure log on their publication scheme at http://www.dca.gov.uk/rights/dca/disclosure.htm

I expect the Information Commissioner to turn his attention to improvments in the consistency of publication schemes and the new classes and sub classes that should be added in light of FOI by the end of the year.

Adding details of requests is an important way for public authorties to quickly deal with future enquiries and allow fast access to information that has already been requested. In the US this has long been established through the electronic reading room part of the FOIA (see example) and in Ireland the Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources publish a requests log- interestingly here all requstors are publically named

If you are researching public sector information, make sure you always check the publication scheme - there can be useful information in the public domain - Heather Brooke is often good at doing this (see her entry on Health and Safety about Railway Signals passed and the PPP Contracts for the Tube)

It is also worth using the Information Asset Register maintained by HMSO: "The IAR lists information resources held by the UK Government, concentrating on unpublished resources. In doing so it enables users to identify, from one single source, the information held in a wide variety of government departments, agencies and other organisations." It can be in particlualr useful for finding out details of databases maintained by Departments.

There is quite a problem in the co-ordiantion of FOI publication schemes - there is no central access point for them (even at sector level) so you will always have the visit the website of an individual authority. This makes the job a lot longer when the schemes are often buried and are hard to find even using Google and site searches. The onlt co-ordinated document I know of is the list on the Information Commissioner's website (without weblinks). The NHS have made an attempt to list all the Schemes for GP surgeries on the NHS FOI site, but the list is very hard to use listing them merely by the start of the address not Geographical area

I woud also urge anyone who has made succesful FOI requests to publish the full documents from their requests (subject to Copyright law) for the public to see. The Guardian are doing this - for example see the meetings with the DCA/Sky documents

If anyone has any comments about publication schemes post them here

Business issues and FOI

FT.com 16th Jan -Throwing open a secretive world
"Such messages will be zapping around the country with greater urgency this week now that venture capitalists have got wind of an application under the new Freedom of Information Act that is aimed at throwing open the secretive world of UK private equity, as disclosure laws have in the US."

Chartered Institute of Building 17th Jan - Consultation compromise over export credit rules averts judicial review
"Though the ECGD for reasons of commercial confidentiality may have appeared to conduct its business in a secretive and untransparent manner as the NGOs allege, it is now like other government departments ready to conform to the requirements of the U.K. Freedom of Information Act which came into force on 2005-01-01. This legislation is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability among public sector bodies, facilitating better understanding of how public authorities carry out their duties, the decisions they make and how they spend the taxpayers’ money. This should provide another rich field of inquiry for the NGOs."

Hold the frontpage FOI guide


Freedom of Information- a brief guide available at "Hold the front page" . Aimed at the regional press.

EFF seeks information on web surveillance

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a request with the US Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the release of documents that would show whether the US government has been using the PATRIOT Act to spy on people's internet reading habits without a search warrant.

In a media release, the EFF said PATRIOT Section 216 expanded the government's ability to spy during criminal investigations using pen registers or trap and trace devices (pen-traps). These collect information about numbers dialled on a telephone but do not record the conversation

Further details: EFF website

Blogs in the news

Interestingly a blogger has been sacked for his activities on the web. See the report about Joe Gordon from Waterstone's last week in the Guardian This is the first case in Britain. You can comment here as well.

Freepint have also feature "enterprise blogging" in the current newsletter

FOIA Blog featured in Guardian online

This site has been featured in blogwatch on the Guardian Online section Thanks to Bobbie Johnson for the mention

Checklist for FoI

Govt Computing - 14 January 2005

The organisation for public sector IT specialists has produced guidance for complying with the Freedom of Information Act

The Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm) published a briefing document, Freedom of Information in 2005, on 13 January 2005. It includes a 15 point checklist to help senior managers cope with the demands of the act, which came into full force at the beginning of the year.

Philosophical dimensions of publicity/transparency/FoI

There is an interesting paper on the philosophical dimensions of publicity/transparency/FoI at:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/publicity/

Forms part of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Freedom of Information Act: A Community of Practice Project

The Freedom of Information Act: A Community of Practice Project, funded by
The Society of Archivists in partnership with CyMAL, is now underway. The aim of this three-month project is to establish a foundation for a community of practice for Freedom of Information issues for local authority archive services, and other interested bodies, in Wales. Data will be collected in the form of a state of the nation survey to determine responses tocompliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Results will be published, providing detailed descriptions of current practice and anlysis of where improvements, clarifications and issues resolution are required. The research team is Julie Archer and Lorena Lord: julie.archer@llgc.org.uk,and lorena.lord@llgc.org.uk

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

The Code of Practice and Guidance are now listed as approved on the DEFRA website

Secrets and alibis

John O'Farrell Friday January 7, 2005 The Guardian, an amusing take on FOI:

"The new act is also a splendid new way to wind up a politician who might have annoyed you. Even a completely innocent minister might start to feel distinctly edgy when they learn someone keeps submitting written requests for the addresses of all motels he has visited after 11pm, plus details of his overseas bank accounts, and a list of mobile phone calls made in the area around Soho."

New HSE FOI webiste

The Health and Safety Executive have a new FOI webiste at http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/index.htm

Media roundup

FT 17th Jan - Private equity groups battle to keep secrets
"Secretive UK private equity groups are fighting an attempt to force them to shed light on their performance under the new Freedom of Information Act amid confusion over what the new law requires them to reveal...The issue has come to a head as a result of a FOIA application by a private market intelligence gatherer, which asked local authorities to reveal sensitive information such as internal rates of return on their private equity investments as soon as the new law took effect on January 1. Local authorities have up to 20 days from the application to respond."

EU Business 16th Jan - UK Freedom of Information Act holds promise for postcommunist democracies
"Some 50 countries already have similar laws, yet many are of a very limited nature, so experts say the new law should serve Britons well. Could a law like this benefit the new postcommunist democracies, too?"

Daily Telegraph 16th Jan - What soars ever higher? The cost of Blair's Queen's Flight freebie"An RAF crew enjoyed eight nights' upmarket accommodation plus expenses at taxpayers' cost during Tony Blair's recent holiday to Egypt, The Telegraph can reveal."

Daily Telegraph 15th Jan - Pentagon planned love bomb
"The Pentagon examined the possibility of developing an aphrodisiac bomb that would cause enemy troops to find one another sexually irresistible, newly declassified documents reveal."

Guardain 14th Jan - Schools 'unprepared for Freedom of Information Act'
"Most schools are not equipped to meet the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, the National Association of School Governors warned today"

Computer Weekly - Socitm warns that councils' IT systems are not ready for Freedom of Information Act

Guardian 11th Jan- In the land of the free
"Britain's Freedom of Information Act comes into force almost 40 years after its American equivalent. Sarah Left explains how the US system works"

New Statesman - John Kampfner wants to know a secret (or two)
"In the first week of its operation, some 900 applications were received. Of those, roughly 120 came from the Conservative front bench, in a co-ordinated probe of the system. Journalists accounted for about half the remaining figure, and members of the public the rest"

Out-law.com - Freedom of Information Act now in force
"Rosemary Jay, a partner with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, commented: "This marks a new era. An information society needs information rights and the UK has lagged behind others for too long. It will be a challenge for some parts of the public sector but most have worked hard to prepare for it."

Countdown to FOI - essential steps a TFPL / IDOX white paper

"The public's Right to Know under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) comes into effect in January 2005. This paper is for executives responsible for FOI and for officers who are preparing their authority, or their departement/division, for the new regime."

More details: TFPL.com

Inaugural DCA/Constitution Unit Freedom of Information Lecture

25 January 2005, Lord Falconer will deliver the inaugural DCA/Constitution Unit Freedom of Information Lecture entitled:

Freedom of Information - The beginning of a new chapter in openness.

Lord Falconer will be setting out the government's approach to Freedom of Information and plans for the operation of this ground breaking change. Please note that places for this event are limited and will be filled on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend please confirm by Tuesday 18 January. 6.30 pm until 8.00 pm on 25 January 2005 Registration from 6.00 pm

Please contact maria.obu@dca.gsi.gov.uk for more information. A map of the venue can be found through the hyperlink below:
http:/www.etclimited.co.uk/pdf/cbiloc.pdf

The Constitution Unit website

Guardian article on FOI and Academia

Where's the beef? How much will academic researchers benefit from the new Freedom of Information Act, asks John Crace
Tuesday January 11, 2005
The Guardian

"Peter Hennessy's postgraduate students have formed a Freedom of Information hit-squad to target documents from the late 70's - on the grounds that the government is likely to care less about their disclosure than about papers from more recent times - but it's fair to say there hasn't exactly been a stampede of researchers rushing to the post office to send off their requests to Whitehall"

FOI Articles in The Times

The Times 11th January: Series of articles in the law section:

Is this new freedom an empty gesture?
James Michael
The Freedom of Information Act and other changes that will enhance the public’s right to know

New openness regime will keep many lawyers in work
Heather Brooke
As thousands of public authorities struggle to cope with the public’s new rights to information, one organisation stands aloof from the fray — the judicial system

Lawyers find the MoD a formidable adversary
Jon Robins
A culture of secrecy is frustrating litigation over the deaths of young soldiers

3rd International Conference of Information Commissioners

The above conference takes place in Cancun Mexico 20-23rd February 2005

More details at http://www.icic-cancun.org.mx/

Impressive lineup, speakers include:

John M. Reid, Information Commissioner, Canada.
María Marván Laborde, Commissioner, Federal Institute of Access to Public Information, Mexico.
Aylair Livingstone, Director, Access to Information Unit, Jamaica.
Emily O´Reilly, Information Commissioner, Ireland.
Darryl Wookey, Information Commissioner, Western Australia.
Attila Perterfalvi, Commissioner, Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Hungary.
Richard Calland, Executive Director Open Democracy Advice Center, South Africa.
Toby Mendel, Law Program Director, Article 19, UK.
Thomas Blanton, Director, National Security Archive, George Washington University.
Helen Darbishire, Senior Program Manager, Freedom of Information and Expression, Open Society, US
Graham Smith, Information Commissioner, UK
Urmas Kukk, General Director, Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate, Estonia.
Signe Plumina, State Data Inspectorate, Latvia.
Natasa Pirc Musar, Commissioner, Access to Information of Public Character, Slovenia.
Nina Karpachova, Commissioner for Human Rights, Ukraine.
Tony Bunyan, Editor, Statewatch.org. UK.

Will post further details if papers etc become available

Freedom of Information Act:what you need to know seminar

To start the New Year, the City Information group (CiG) is holding a joint event with the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) and the Circle of State Librarians (CSL) to examine the Freedom of Information legislation which comes into force on 1st January 2005.

What is this new Act? Who does it apply to? How will it be used? What does this mean to information professionals and vendors alike? To discuss these issues, we have three speakers, each giving us a different perspective and an experienced information professional as Chair, to draw the themes together.

SPEAKERS
1. Emma Webb, Information Commissioner’s Office, who will explain what FOI is, how it is likely to be implemented and how it could be applied in different fields.
2. Sandy Chalmers, Director of Data Privacy Policy at GlaxoSmithKline who will give a corporate view on how the Act will impact the pharmaceutical industry, but with parallels for other commercial organisations.
3. Government department speaker to be confirmed.

Chaired by
Olivia Freeman, freelance information consultant & trainer, who will lead a discussion on the implications of the Act for vendors, recruitment consultants and information professionals in the private sector.

Date: Tuesday 25th January 2005
Time: Register from 6pm onwards, starting promptly at 6.30pm
Venue: Balls Brothers at the Minster (downstairs), Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7PP
Cost: BIALL/CiG/CSL members £15. Non-members £25, payable in advance.
A finger buffet will be served after the seminar. A cash bar will be available.

How to book:
CiG members and anyone booking at the non-member rate can book online here. As we cannot verify membership of other groups online, BIALL and CSL members can only book at the members rate by downloading a booking form and returning it to the CiG Administrator.

Iraq war critics conduct their own Hutton inquiry

Indepedent on Sunday 9th Jan - Iraq war critics conduct their own Hutton inquiry

The article offers to help with reader requests and lists 10 questions to be answered:

"Opponents of the war in Iraq are using the new freedom of information laws to pursue questions that were left unanswered by the Hutton and Butler inquiries....TodayThe Independent on Sunday launches a service to help readers get as much as possible from the new Freedom of Information Act, which came into force on 1 January"

Interestingly a further article by Maurice Frankel is not available to non paying subscribers.......

CIPFA FOI workshops

Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Tendering - Are You Ready? - Special Going Live Workshop
26th January - Leeds, 28th January -London & 1st February 2005 - Glasgow
www.ipfprocurement.net

Advanced Workshop Freedom of Information Act 2000 -
Thinking Practically - Getting it Right
London, Birmingham, York & Edinburgh - February/ March
www.ipf.co.uk/governance

FOI article in E-government Bulletin

Section Two: Focus - Freedom of Information
+09: Opening the Way to Trust: As the Freedom of Information Act
takes force, how will the Police maintain a healthy balance between
transparency and secrecy? Derek Parkinson speaks to the Metropolitan
Police.

http://www.headstar.com/egb/

New Guide to procurement and FOI

Freedom of Information and Procurement: A practical guide for public authorities
by Jim Amos; Professor Maeve McDonagh, November 2004 , ISBN 1 903903 37 8
Report: 32 pp., £10.00

Available from the UCL Constitution Unit

Other useful guides in the series include:

-A Practical Guide to the Data Protection Act (December 2004 edition)
-Freedom of Information and Procurement: A practical guide for public authorities
-A Practical Guide to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (October 2004 edition)
-Delivering Freedom of Information

Media Roundup

Government Computing 4th Jan - Whitehall files online under FoI

BBC News 9th Jan - Uncovering the secrets of the NHS

BBC News 5tb Jan- How free is American information

BBC News -7th Jan. Unbuttoning Sir Humphrey

Observer 9th Jan - Falconer to curb secrecy of ministers
"The cabinet minister responsible for the new Freedom of Information Act has said that ministers' diaries and details of who they meet should be opened up to public scrutiny"

New York Times 8th Jan- Questions About Royal Land Test New British Disclosure Law Registration required

Hexam Courant 7th Jan - Parents cite Freedom of Information
"Parents fighting against Northumberland County Council plans to reorganise education are set to use the Freedom of Information Act to support their case. The Northumberland Education Action Group (NEAG) says that the council has failed to answer the questions requested by parents over a number of months. The council revealed its plans for education in December last year by releasing the controversial Putting the Learner First strategy document.However, the action group feels that more information should be made available regarding surplus places, finance, catchment area models, and other areas......group is seeking information such as draft reports on documentation supplied to independent evaluators, estimates for highway improvements at school sites, surplus places calculations, and details relating to catchment area models."

Scotsman 7th Jan - Royal Papers May Be Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information in Scotland - A Guide to Your Rights

The Scottish Information Commissioner has produced new guidance on your rights under freedom of information in Scotland. The guidance is available at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info

Covers:

-About your rights
-How to make a request
-How to appeal if you don't get what you asked for

Download PDF

Useful documents for FOI practioners

The Public Sector Forums website has some usfeul documents available for download:

-Wakefield Council's FoI documentation
-Staffordshire County Council Information Audit Questionnaire
-West Sussex Council FoI Guidance and leaflets

You can log on for free and register for access if you are from the public sector:
http://www.publicsectorforums.co.uk

Manchster Evening News to test FOI

Manchster Evening News 4th Jan.

"THE Manchester Evening News today tests the new Freedom of Information Act by asking ten key unanswered questions. The M.E.N. is demanding that Bury council finally comes clean on how much it spent on the case of Anthony McNally, the former teacher who was suspended for nine years over allegations, that were never proved, of inappropriately touching a pupil.

We also want Greater Manchester Police to tell us how much taxpayers' money it spent arguing vainly in court that it was right to let DCI Kenny Caldwell retire on a pension after he was blamed for the collapse of a major murder trial.

There are other questions for transport bosses about whether they have drawn up any secret plans for congestion charging, and health chiefs about the scale of superbug MRSA in our hospitals.

Other issues include bullying in the Army, plans for countering terrorist attacks, fines for the private company running Manchester's new magistrates court and racism in the police force."

Media Roundup

Zdnet 5th Jan- FoI opens up intelligence files

New Scientist -Environmental information laws slipped quietly into place

Daily Telegraph 6th Jan - Public to know what EU pays to farmers
"The public will be able to find out how much any farmer is paid in subsidy from next year under the Freedom of Information Act, Lord Whitty, the food and farming minister, told farmers yesterday."

SupplyManagement.com - Procurement’s tricky balancing act
"The impact of the Freedom of Information Act on public procurement is clear in only one respect – it will be big. David Arminas identifies the likely battlegrounds"

Guardian 5th Jan - Italy 'to export nuclear waste to UK'
"The Guardian, meanwhile, is challenging the government's refusal to publish details of its contracts allowing Italy to send nuclear waste to Britain"

Guardian Online section 6th Jan- Second sight
"A back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me that if the government were to keep all of the emails for every single one of the six million-ish civil servants in the UK, it wouldn't be that much data. Let's say each of them gets 100 emails every day (excluding junk deleted by filters) and each message is 5KB: that amounts to roughly a petabyte of data. Large companies seem to be able to manage this amount of data without too much trouble - as a comparison"

Guardian Online section 6th Jan - Ask a Policeman
"Complying with the Freedom of Information Act will be a stiff challenge for most public bodies, but as Simon Bisson reports, the police are showing us how it's done in Suffolk"

Guardian 6th Jan - Post Office names branches to be closed
"The Post Office yesterday caved in to demands that it release details of its sub-post office closure programme and the whereabouts of local offices scheduled to close."

The Times 5th Jan - This is the hour of the clever nerd
"The new Act opens a chamber of secrets, but only if journalists remember their old skills"

Controversial International Development Projects Detailed in Documents Released Under U.S. Freedom of Information Act

freedominfo.org update

http://www.freedominfo.org/ifti.htm

Washington, D.C. - Many of the most controversial projects funded by the World Bank and other major international financial institutions were the subject of considerable internal discussion and activity within the U.S. government, according to hundreds of documents obtained through the U.S Freedom of Information Act and posted on freedominfo.org, the online network of freedom of information advocates.

CILIP FOI Guide

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) has launched a new online guide to coincide with the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act this month. Pulls together the key resources in a well structured website.

Freedom of Information Act – Conservatives challenge Government with 120 embarrassing questions

Taken from Conservatives.com, many of these requests will have little chance of ever being answered in full as I'm sure many will fall under the S35 (formulation of government policy) and S36 (prejudice to coduct of public affairs) exemptions

What did the Government really think about the outcome of the Hutton and Butler Inquiries?

Why did the Government change its policy on holding a referendum on the EU Constitution?

When was Gordon Brown told that Tony Blair wanted a third term and what was his reaction?

Why were 8 Chinook MK3 helicopters grounded at a cost to the tax payer of £205 million?

Where did foot and mouth disease really originate and was there a cover-up of the truth?

"These are just a few of the first 120 questions which senior Shadow Ministers are asking 10 government departments in the first tranche of tough questions under the Freedom of Information Act."

Media FOI strories

Politics.co.uk 04 Jan - Freedom of Information casts light on Whitehall farce

Guardian FOI site
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/
Files show extent of Murdoch lobbying
January 3: The Guardian reveals how media tycoon Rupert Murdoch won ministers' assurance that he could bid for Channel Five.

Howard goes on election offensive
January 5: The Tories have seized on the launch of the government's Freedom of Information Act as a new stick with which to beat Tony Blair.

The U-bend of history
January 4: The battle for soft toilet paper in the civil service lasted 17 years, according to official documents released under the Freedom of Information Act today.

50,000 files opened as act sweeps away 30-year rule
January 4: More than 50,000 files closed under the so-called 30-year rule are opened early today at the national archives at Kew under the Freedom of Information Act.

Falconer backs war advice secrecy
January 4: Lord Falconer gave his first indication yesterday that he could veto the release of potentially explosive legal advice on whether Britain should have gone to war with Iraq.

Why Jim arrived so reluctantly - and Harold went so fast
January 4: Papers show Callaghan hated No 10, while Wilson feared conspiracy theories as he quit.

MoD kept race details on troops
January 4: The army repeatedly refused to carry out ethnic monitoring of its soldiers, accordin to a file released today under the Freedom of Information Act.

Home Office told Porridge makers to naff off
January 4: The Home Office refused to allow the producers of Porridge to go inside a British prison, according to a 1975 Home Office file released today.

The cat o' 99 tales
January 4: The strange tale of the Home Office cat, concealed in a file created as long ago as 1929, is finally released under the Freedom of Information Act today.

Questionable information
January 4, letters: You are right to point to the loopholes in the new Freedom of Information Act (Leader, December 31).

The Sunday Times - Harrods first to fall to data law
"Using the new law, The Sunday Times has obtained the most recent food safety inspections at Harrods, which were conducted last month. The reports are the first of their kind to be released under the act."

The Sunday Times - Holyrood would have cost half as much under PFI"THE Scottish parliament could have cost the taxpayer £200m less if it had been built under a private finance deal, documents released under freedom of information legislation reveal."

BBC - Why you're free to ask in Sweden...
"The Bishop of Stockholm recently had to pay a fine for neglect of duty. She had broken what is probably the world's oldest freedom of information act, from 1766."

4NI -Murphy welcomes the Freedom of Information Act
"The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, has welcomed the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000"

VAT Guidance

On the 23rd of December the DCA added a further section relating to guidance on charging VAT, the guidance is reproduced below:

http://www.foi.gov.uk/feesguide.htm#part66 VAT
6.1 Sections 9 and 13 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives public authorities the option to charge for information in accordance with the fees Regulations (SI 2004/3244). As the Act does not set a specific fee, any monies charged are not statutory fees. However, if the information could only be provided by a public authority (ie the information is not also held by organisations that are not public authorities), Customs do not consider that information released under the Act constitutes an economic activity. As such, any fees charged in these circumstances will be outside the scope of VAT. This means that no VAT should be added to the fees.

6.2 If, on the other hand, a public authority is not the only possible source of the information (ie the information is also available from a source that is not a public authority), any fees charged would attract VAT, as this would be classed as economic activity. This distinction is made so as not to distort competition between the public and private sector.

6.3 These rules apply equally to requests that are above or below the appropriate limit – the key determining factor as to whether VAT is charged is whether the information is available from another source that is not a public authority.

6.4 So, to summarise:

If an authority was asked for information, and the information was only available from that authority or another public authority, any fees charged would not attract VAT.

If an authority was asked for information that was available from another source, any fees would attract VAT. This would still be the case even if the authority was obliged to supply the information because the cost of answering was below the appropriate limit.

Fees charged for information that is provided in accordance with a public authority’s publication scheme will attract VAT.

Scottish Procurement guidance

The Scottish Procurement Directorate has a new publication - Scottish
Public Sector Procurement and Freedom of Information Guidance

FOI Requests - when you get response stating the record no longer exists

Taken from INFORMAA (the Journal of the Records Management Society of Australasia www.rmaa.com.au) an article from the May 2004 Edition by Mike Steemson.

"When you have been fobbed off with "the records no longer exist excuse",
Chris recommends that you :

A) Lodge a Freedom of Information Request with the offender, asking:

1. Were the documents really destroyed and if so what was destroyed?Request a list.
2. Was the destruction documented? Request proof.
3. Who destroyed the documents? Ask for a name.
4. Who authorised the destruction? Request another name.
5. Why were the documents destroyed?
6. Did the Archives/Records Manager authorise it? Request proof.

B) At the same time, lodge a separate FoI request with the official archives, asking:

7. Do they know if the documents were destroyed as reported and, if so, do they know what was destroyed? Request a list or description.
8. Do they know who did it? Request a name.
9. Do they know who authorised it? Request another name.
10. Do they have a contact with that Agency. Request a Name.
11. Do they know why were the documents destroyed?
12. Did they authorise it? Request proof.
13. Who asked for it to be authorised? Request a name
14. Have they ever authorised any destructions by that Agency? Request proof.
15. Do they have any reports, internal memoranda (or e-mails) on the case?
16. What documents do they have dealing with the possibility of prosecution under the Act and, if there aren't any, request copies of any documents dealing with the possibility of prosecution in any case at any time since the act was passed."

My BBC article

As part of the series of FOI articles run by the BBC, I have written a short article on FOI, published today on the BBC news website. Many thanks to Dominic at the BBC news for asking me to do this

The National Archives FOI guidance

The TNA has published its guidance on Freedom of Information (FOI) and deposited public records. This guidance will be relevant to places of deposit, which hold deposited public records on behalf of the Lord Chancellor, and to public records bodies, which transfer public records to places of deposit. The guidance will be reviewed periodically, beginning with a meeting of theworking group in February 2005, and further editions may be issued as a result. TNA will publish any further editions on its website in the first instance.

See new TNA FOI site: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/policy/foi/

Environmental Information regulations

DEFRA has updated the Guidance and Code of Practice. In particular Chapater 6 - Handling requests. The overall consultation period for the guidance will now end on 12th February 2005

Latest Act Now newsletter

www.actnow.org.uk

The January newsletter includes stories and links:

-FOI around the world
-More on Fees
-Latest from Scottish ICO
-FOI and contracts
-Spring program of courses

NHS FOI site

A "DR FOI" page has been added to the NHS FOI site

Showing now on E-gov TV

E-gov TV Reg.

“Freedom of Information – Time for Action” includes discussion panels,interviews and case studies involving leading Government and Public Service figures, local authority executives and FoI experts.

Panel Discussion: Freedom of Information – Here and Now

The panel discusses how the Freedom of Information Act will be used and how it will affect public bodies, their public reputation and internal operations. The panel considers the range of requests that might be received and how they can be managed from publication schemes to evaluating exemptions. What further support and guidance might be provided by the DCA and IC and what further procedures and systems can be applied to reduce the overhead of FoI management:

Panellists taking part are:
· Mirza Ahmad, Chief Legal Officer, Birmingham CC & Lead Officer, ACSeS
· Heather Brooke, Author “Your Right to Know”
· David Kinnaird, Head of Compliance Practice, BT
· Phil Boyd, Assistant Information Commissioner, Information Commissioner’s Office
· Gervase Hood, Head of Information Rights Delivery, Department of Constitutional Affairs
· Nigel Bates, Local Government Sales Manager, Microsoft
· Chair - Roy Lilley, Independent Writer and Broadcaster

Panel Discussion: Managing Freedom of Information

The panel offers expert advice to those public bodies still to implement robust information management strategies, procedures and systems to address FoI requests. The panel examines the information life-cycle from capturing, cataloging and storage to retrieval. How can authorities manage the wealth and diversity of information being generated on an ongoing basis and is information destruction still viable or should we aim to archive all records.

Panellists taking part are:
· Andrea Simmons, Principal Consultant, Socitm Consulting
· Alan Stead, Service Manager Info Management, Nottingham CC & Chair of the
National Association for Information Management
· Mark Garius, Managing Director, Toshiba Tec UK Ltd
· Steven Jones, Head of Archive Inspection Services, The National Archives
· Mark Godfrey, VP Global Sales, Meridio Ltd
· Chair - Roy Lilley, Independent Writer and Broadcaster

Media Roundup

The following stories appeared in the media over Xmas and New Year:

You can watch a new story on video on FOI at the BBC news website

There is also a Radio 4 programme "The World Tonight" you can listen to

Of particluar note in the Media was the comment piece in the Guardian by Lord Falconer stating that " when government departments receive requests under the FOI legislation which are of general public interest, government departments will publish the responses. Some FOI inquiries will obviously be of very narrow interest, but many will be of wider public interest". The aim seeming to be and try and prempt any news stories and possibly release further supplementary data. Time will tell and anaysis of disclosure will be required to assess how this is used as "spin" tool.

FOI disclosure

Daily Telegraph - Anonymous query unearths true cost of ministers' cars

Daily Telegraph -Which of these house guests was Tony Blair embarrassed about?

BBC - Iraq war advice secrecy defended

Scotsman - Call for Public Register of PM's Meetings

Independent on Sunday - Lawyers acting for disgruntled Railtrack shareholders are preparing to use the Freedom of Information Act

Introduction of FOI

Campaign for FOI- Press release

Friends of the Earth- Press release

New Guardian FOI website

BBC - Openess law reveals news papers

BBC - Need to know is right to know

BBC - Right to information becomes law

BBC - So you want to see the PM's memos..?

Observer- Chaos looms as new law opens up state secrets

Birmingham Post- CITY fears information act docu-drama

The Times - Q and A

The Sunday Times - Firms are urged to enjoy freedom of information

Daily Telegraph - Your right to know (what they'll tell us)

Daily Telegraph - Freedom of information may have to wait

The Independent - Robert Hazell: Fear of information stalks corridors of Whitehall

File detruction stories

Independent - Shredded!

Guardian - File destruction doubled ahead of new information act

BBC - No hard eviedence of shredding

BBC - watchdog probes email deletions

BBC - Whitehall shedding more files

BBC - Howard condemns e-mail deletion


Scotland

The Scotsman - Freedom of information suppressed by secretive Holyrood

The Scotsman - Freedom Act Will Transform Writing of History

The Evening Times - Holyrood hits back at claims of files purge

Sector specific

Brimingham Post- Police fear over Information Act

E-Health - Six in ten NHS organisations 'ready' for FOI

Eastern daily Press- Hospital e-mails set to be deleted

Financial Times - Disclosure demands set to grow

Happy New Year and welcome to new FOI era

Well, the 1st January 2005 is finally upon us. What will the new Year bring?

The Blog will back in 2005 stronger and better than ever - there is will be more pages of links and recommended reading, the blog will provide resources for both users of the Act and for public authorities implementing the Act. There will be the usual highlights of news, views and latest research. Do keep spreading the word, the Blog has been featured by both the BBC and the Guardian newspaper recently. Keep me updated with any stories, new resources, guidance or issues with requests you have made. I will be conducting detailed academic research on FOI during this year, as well as publishing in journals I will be providing highlights and lessons learned on the blog. I am very interested to hear about your FOI requests -when practical I am happy to help with certain issues.

Let me know - which public authorities is performing well? Which not so well?

February 2005 will see the launch of my new journal: Open Government, see www.opengovjournal.org for more details

If you are new to FOI, the new Friends of the Earth request generator is an excellent starting point www.RightToKnowOnline.org

In the next few days I will be adding:

-Updated links pages
-A comprehensive news roundup from over Xmas and New Year
-A look forward for 2005
-New introductory guides to FOI for different audiences

So do keep visiting - the blog is the original and best UK FOI resource - providing news and views since February 2003!

Steve