Media Roundup

Daily Telegraph 28th February - How V2 menace terrorised Whitehall
"Top secret papers reveal that flawed intelligence led to fear of 100,000 deaths in London in first month of rockets. Ben Fenton reports"

Daily Telegraph 28th February - 8,000 items go 'missing' from British Library
"British Library managers insisted yesterday that security was still tight at the £511 million premises in central London. Confirming figures revealed by its new crime audit and made public under the Freedom of Information Act, a spokesman said: "We are talking about 8,000 books, documents and recordings out of a total collection of 160 million, which is a tiny percentage."

Sunday Times 27th February - Food labels of confusion at Tesco
"The misleading Boulders blurb is one of more than 20 incidents of suspected mislabelling that trading standards officers have found in an eight-week period after testing Tesco products. All were recorded in December and January by Hertfordshire trading standards, which collects reports from other trading standards offices around the country. The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act; similar reports for other supermarket chains have yet to be released"

Environmental Information Regulations

The Code of Practice for the EIRs has been issued (previously in draft form), laid in Parliament on 16 February 2005.

DEFRA have also produced guidance on EIR fees and guidance letters on dealing with information requests.

Thanks to Gillian for alerting me to these

Irish FOIA

Four decisions and two High Court Judgements were added to the website of the Office of the Information Commissioner(Ireland)website today.

Letter Decision
Case 031099 - Mr X and the Department of Agriculture and Food
Case 040111 - Mr. X and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Case 000459 - Ms X and the Department of Education and Science
Case 030520 - Mr X and Naas Town Council

High Court Judgements
C.W. Shipping Co. Ltd., Shannon Explosives Ltd., and Whelans Limestone Quarries Ltd.

Matthew Ryan and Kathleen Ryan Vs the Information Commissioner

A new OIC Records Management Handbook is also available

Media roundup

Sunday Herald 27th February -Where’s the freedom of information when we can’t get the truth? "Today we publish details about flights carrying alleged terrorist prisoners on their way, through Scotland, to countries where they can be interrogated and tortured without fear of human rights lawyers intervening. We believe, as British soil is being used to aid this practice, we have a right to know the extent of such activity with a view to ensuring it stops. We have in place the mechanism to ask. It is called the Freedom of Information Act. But ask about the information from the office of the attorney general that claimed war was legal, and there is only denial and silence. Ask our government if they are aiding a heinous illegal practice involving torture in undisclosed countries, and there is yet more silence. There is no information and it makes a mockery of even the freedom to ask."

Sunday Herald 27th February- Scotland’s secret environmental shame revealed
"A list of all the European “infraction cases” was released to the Sunday Herald by the Scottish Executive last week in response to a request under the new Freedom of Information Act....Although the Executive listed the laws that are the subject of the 32 infringement proceedings, it refused to disclose the substance of the European Commission’s allegations. That, it said, was outwith the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, and was the responsibility of the Cabinet Office in Whitehall."

Sunday Telegraph 27th February - Kew loses over 800 years of history
"More than 1,600 historical records, some of which date back to the 12th century, have gone missing from the National Archives in Kew. Details obtained by The Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that 1,672 original documents have disappeared. The papers, which span more than 800 years of British history, include 21 records from the private offices of various prime ministers and 24 Cabinet Office documents."

The Times 26th February - More than 8 million are now dangerously obese
"The obesity data within the survey, which was published in December, came to light yesterday after a request to the Department of Health under the Freedom of Information Act. The statistics, which are compiled from sample surveys throughout the country."

Manchster Evening News 25th February- Freedom of Information Act found wanting
"SEVERE limitations on the new Freedom of Information Act have been exposed by a Manchester Evening News investigation....
The questions, and the less-than-full answers

Indepedent 27th February - Spin row over Labour claims 'we've never had it so good
"Ministers decided to publish the report by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit after The Independent requested to see it under the Freedom of Information Act. The Strategic Audit of Life in Britain found increased prosperity, with the most deprived areas seeing a big improvement in health, education, employment and some types of crime. But, the report said, there were still worrying numbers of workless households. It also found that public "trust in government to put national interest over party interest" was declining."

New IDEA Knowledge website

The Improvement Development Agency's knowledge website has been relaunched and has a substantial FOI section aimed at FOI Practioners in local authorities. The site includes guidance and discussion topics

The IDEA: "works in partnership with all councils, to enhance the performance of the best, accelerate the speed of improvement of the rest, and develop the sector as a whole". Interestingly the IDEA is not itself subject to FOI as it is a company owned by the Local Government Association (also not subject to FOI) despite receiving a revenue support grant.

It would seem that the IDEA would be a candidate to be added to FOI under a section 5 order:

"Section 5 gives the Secretary of State an order-making power to designate as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, any private organisation which appears to him to be performing public functions, or which is performing under contract the functions of a public authority. Before making this type of Order, the Secretary of State must consult the organisations he proposes to include within it.No Orders have yet been made under this section, and none are anticipated until after 1 January 2005." (DCA website)

ACPO FOI manual

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have produced a Freedom of Information manual that is publicly available.

Download PDF

Media Roundup

Harrow Times 23rd February- Council deny email purge
"Information that can be requested includes business correspondence like emails, but according to a former insider at the Council, who did not want to be named, a circular email on the Council mailing list last week told employees to delete all messages over six months old. The source said that the Council had never had a policy of deleting emails in the past and that its timing was suspicious in view of the new legislation"

Indepedent 22nd February - Heseltine wrote off Concorde as 'hopeless'
"The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act at the National Archives in Kew, west London, show that officials correctly predicted that Britain and France would struggle to sell the plane."

Indepedent 22nd February - Michael goes to ground over his secret hunting meetings
"Recently, in a bid to find out what really went on, Pandora asked Defra - under the new Freedom of Information Act - to disclose details of the meetings. And yesterday, my request was formally declined. A letter of rejection says that Michael would like to stress that "over the last three years, his door was open to all sides in the debate on hunting". However, the matter is exempt from FOI legislation because it "relates to the formulation of government policy."

Two FOI request stories on YRTK

Posted by Heather Brooke, on Your Right to Know
"High praise for Waste Management – Boos for Environmental Health
Filed under: Environment Local Govt Campaigns Secret Squirrel— heather @ 8:25 pm
FOI Requests to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea"

Councils measure up to FOI

From UKauthorITy.com and

Interesting....one of the comprehensive "FOIA audits" carried out so far:

"Three quarters of UK local authorities provided a full response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in a new survey, indicating that most councils have fully prepared for the new act. Only three percent in IDOX’s survey could not respond to the request for information (RFI) – two percent applied exemptions and one percent did not hold any information

For its survey, ‘One month on – UK Local Authority responses to an FOI request’, IDOX sent a letter to 438 authorities in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 January 2005, when the new FOI Acts came into force. The letter was designed to test each Idox website authority’s response to an FOI request and asked each council for details of its plans to manage requests and whether it had a software package to manage them, and whether it was considering implementation of other related technologies"

One month after the legislation was introduced, the councils which performed best by meeting all survey criteria for FOI requests were:

- Cornwall County Council

- Corporation of London

- Dartford Borough Council

- London Borough of Lambeth

- London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

- Nottinghamshire Country Council

- Thurrock Borough Council

Over half (52%) of councils acknowledge the link between records management (and EDRMS - Electronic Document and Records Management Systems) and FOI request tracking. Those councils surveyed that wish to implement EDRMS technology plan to do so in the next 12-18 months. Respondents indicated that considerable work will be undertaken with regards to policy and procedure development before technology is applied.

Ministers stall inquiry on Iraq war advice

Guardian 21st February -Ministers stall inquiry on Iraq war advice

"The information commissioner is being blocked from launching an investigation which could force the government to release its files on the legality of British troops invading Iraq. Ministers are using a procedural device to stall a referral under the Freedom of Information Act to Richard Thomas, the information commissioner. Mr Thomas, an independent watchdog responsible for policing the act, cannot step in until ministers announce the results of an "internal review" of their own decision. But they have failed to do so. An investigation could lead to a legally binding order that they must release the files.

In an opinion commissioned by the Guardian and published today in full on the Guardian website, a leading barrister says ministers' claims that they have a right to suppress the files are legally incorrect."

How FoI Law Affects Suppliers to the Public Sector

9th March 2005
The Royal Statistical Society, London
E-Government Bulletin

"The UK's new Freedom of Information Act is designed to boost trust and openness in the public sector. But what are its implications for suppliers to the sector? Will commercially confidential information be revealed to competitors? How can sensitive information be protected when entering into supplier and partnership contracts? What do private sector employees working for public sector clients need to know about the new law, to ensure they help their clients with compliance? What opportunities does FoI provide for suppliers? What other implications are there for suppliers?
Our wide-ranging seminar will cover all these areas in a lively, incisive way and will be of interest for senior managers and marketing executives of all e-government and other public sector supplier companies."

A law unto itself

Guardian 21st February - A law unto itself
"The PCC will remain an enigma if it is not bound by the Freedom of Information Act, writes Julian Petley"

Secrecy 'is biggest obstacle' to reporting - survey

Holdthefrontpage.co.uk

"A new report is claiming that the greatest obstacle to free reporting is secrecy among public bodies. In a wide-ranging survey, more than 80 per cent of regional daily newspaper editors and more than 60 per cent of weekly newspaper editors surveyed said the problem was of "high" or "very high" significance."

Information Commissioners Meet in Cancún

3rd Annual Conference Draws Attendees from 50 Countries

February 21, 2005 - freedom of information advocates and government officials who implement access laws around the world gathered in Cancún, Mexico for the 3rd annual International Conference of Information Commissioners, hosted by Mexico's own commission (IFAI - Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública).

The Mexican organizers reached beyond the ranks of official delegates to bring together a wide range of civil society groups, non-governmental organizations, legal experts, academics, and openness activists from more than 50 countries, ranging from India to Ireland, Argentina to Estonia, Thailand to Peru. Mexico's own law, enacted in 2002 and in effect since June 2003, has already attracted more than 60,000 requests from the public and produced more than a dozen major success stories against corruption and coverup, according to IFAI's reports.

Many members of the freedominfo.org network are participating in this week's conference -- probably the largest of its kind ever held -- and the program is posted in Spanish and English on the freedominfo.org Web site.

http://www.freedominfo.org

National Digital Archive of Datasets

29 datasets, which were formerly closed, are now open and available
from the National Digital Archive of Datasets. Following the Freedom
of Information Act coming into force, the Department has agreed that
no FOI exemptions apply to the data. The datasets are:

CRDA/13/DS/1/1985-1991 Schools' Census: Primary, middle and secondary
schools 1985-1991 (7 datasets)
CRDA/13/DS/2/1985-1991 Schools' Census: Special schools 1985-1991 (7 datasets)
CRDA/13/DS/3/1985-1991 Schools' Census: Nursery schools 1985-1991 (7 datasets)
CRDA/13/DS/4/1985-1991 Schools' Census: Indepedent schools 1985-1991 (7 datasets)

In addition, the 1993 dataset for Primary, middle and secondary
schools (CRDA/13/DS/1/1993) is now open without restriction. This
dataset was formerly only made available in an aggregated format.

See the Series catalogue for further details.

The Schools' Census is an annual survey of schools conducted by
the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and its
predecessors which gathered information about school size, types of
classes, numbers and types of staff, numbers of students etc. There
are separate sub-series for local authority maintained primary,
middle and secondary schools, special schools, nursery schools and
independent schools. Schools in England and Wales are included down
to 1977, after which Welsh schools are only found in the independent
school datasets (with the rest covering schools in England only).

For more information, please see:

Scottish FOI TV advert

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner launched an
advertising campaign earlier this week. It is part of a wider
promotional campaign to raise public awareness of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act.

http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/advert.htm

DCA FOI release: Email guidance for staff

An interesting document has come to light on the DCA disclosure log concerning guidance about email:
"Guidance to staff on the use of e-mail issued in July 2004 by the Head of the Home Civil Service. The guidance covers email status, content, disclosability, responsibility and storage / destruction."

The document in the form of a memo from Sir Andrew Tunrbull, is interesting in light of the media stories that surrounded the Cabinet Office emai deletion story back in December. The guidance recommends swift deletion of email that are not "for the record"

US FOI: House bill to bolster FOI Act introduced

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
"Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) has introduced the House version of a Senate bill that aims to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act by revamping it for the first time since the 1996 Electronic FOI Act. The bill, introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), would reform the FOI Act by tracking FOI Act requests, creating an ombudsman's office to settle disputes between government agencies and FOI requesters, and making government-owned information held by contractors subject to release. "Taxpayers should have the opportunity to obtain information quickly and easily," Smith said on his Web site."This legislation will greatly improve the public's right to know what the government is doing in their name."

Also - Open Government Act to recognise Bloggers as legitimate journalists
from BlogHerald
"Importantly for bloggers, the Cornyn-Leahy legislation grants privileged FOIA fees for bloggers and writers for Internet outlets, providing the same status as old media and will protect access to FOIA fee waivers for legitimate journalists, regardless of institutional association - including bloggers and other Internet-based journalists"

Media roundup

Daily Telegraph 21st February - (opinion) Freedom of information could leave us even more in the dark"Rather than enhancing democracy, the new laws have undermined Parliament by handing power from elected politicians to unelected judges and information commissioners. Instead of increasing openness, they have encouraged the political establishment to close ranks. There is a growing sense of dismay at the very highest level on Whitehall. Sir Andrew Turnbull, the Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, now spends an hour a day deciding which documents should be made public, and other permanent secretaries devote at least as much time to their Freedom of Information intrays"

Guardain 21st February - Crestor dose was double recommendation
"confidential documents the Guardian obtained under the Freedom of Information Act this month showed that the UK regulators had seen higher rates of rhabdo in Crestor patients than other statins, prompting restrictions on the highest dose on the market, 40mg, last year."

Scotsman 20th February - Councillors get on junkets bandwagon
"But while all eyes were on Holyrood, just what were Scotland’s 1,200 local councillors up to? The answer, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, is publicly funded travel - and plenty of it. Scotland on Sunday asked every one of the country’s 32 local authorities to reveal which trips councillors had undertaken over the past three years. Glasgow failed to provide any information, blaming an "administrative error", while Orkney and Inverclyde claimed not to have received our request"

Eastern Daily Press 20th February - The true cost of Magdalen Street flyover
"The true cost of the controversial project to repair the Magdalen Street flyover in Norwich was £1.4m, it emerged last night. The total - revealed in documents released under new Freedom of Information Act (FOI) - was double the original projected cost for the much-delayed scheme, which should have taken six months to complete but was finished after more than a year."

Sunday Times 20th February - Drivers face paying congestion charge at Heathrow
"PASSENGERS arriving at Heathrow by car face paying a congestion charge under proposals being considered by the government to tackle traffic pollution at Britain’s biggest airport. Proposals for the congestion charge are outlined in documents released by the Department for Transport last week under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents relate to the meetings of a stakeholder group examining access to the west London airport"

Guardan 19th February - Academies 'will create two-tier school system'
"The government's controversial initiative to replace failing inner city schools with privately run academies threatens to create a two-tier education system based on social class, according to a confidential, government-commissioned report. Ministers had refused to release the study by consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers but a copy obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act casts doubt on the programme's ability to improve standards and encourage innovative teaching and learning."

Guardain 19th February - MoD says staff names are secret
"The Ministry of Defence is trying to knock a large hole in the Freedom of Information Act by claiming that the identities of all its 100,000 civil servants are secret. The ministry has even refused to disclose the identity of scores of senior officials listed in officially published handbooks. Their names and jobs already appear in guides such as the civil service yearbook, the foreign office diplomatic list and Who's Who. The policy came to light when the MoD refused a Guardian request to supply a copy of the staff directory for the department's arms sales unit, Deso (the Defence Exports Services Organisation)."

FT.com 18th February - Role of the PM's envoy to Mideast is revealed
"New light has been cast on the diplomatic role played by Lord Levy, one of Tony Blair's closest confidants, whose engagements with Middle East leaders were published on Friday under the Freedom of Information Act"

Further disclosure logs

The Disclosure logspart of the blog has been updated.

Government's Response Select Committee

Government's Response to the Department for Constitutional Affairs Select Committee Report Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Progress towards implementation

Download PDF

The orginal Committee report was published back in December

Media Roundup

New Scientist - Privatising nuclear clean-up risks public safety
"Plans to privatise the £48 billion clean-up of the UK's nuclear sites could put public safety at risk. The warning comes in documents compiled by the government's nuclear safety advisors released to New Scientist under the new Freedom of Information Act. They reveal "serious concerns" about the plans, which will allow private companies to tidy up the radioactive mess left by 60 years of nuclear power. Advisers fear that financial pressures will encourage the companies to cut corners and will increase the risk of accidents."

ZDnet 17th February - EDS investigations revealed
"A disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act reveals four Whitehall investigations into IT supplier EDS in just three years"

BBC News 16th February - Restaurant hygiene to go online
"Diners in Aberdeen will soon be able to check the cleanliness of their chosen restaurant before deciding to book a table, it has emerged.
The city council is to make inspection reports on food premises available to the public for the first time online."

Radio 4 Your and yours

I appeared on the Radio 4 programme "You and Yours" today as part of a panel discussing FOI, you can listen again using the BBC radio player

Third Annual Information Conference for the Public Sector: FOI Live 2005

Thursday 16 June 2005
Victoria Park Plaza, London

Book by Thursday, March 25 and receive a £50 discount

The Constitution Unit, Department of Constitutional Affairs and Information Commissioner's Office invite you to attend the biggest FOI event of the calendar year: FOI Live 2005. Last year's conference attracted 220 delegates and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

This year's programme offers talks by top government officials and FOI experts, seminars on specific areas of interest to practitioners, and ample networking opportunities. Throughout the day you will learn answers to the following questions (and many more!): What are the lessons of the first six months? What can you learn from the experience of other public bodies? How can you streamline the handling of requests?

Speakers include:

· Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor
· Richard Thomas, Information Commissioner
· Andrew McDonald, Constitution Director, Department for Constitutional Affairs
· Marie Shroff, Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand
· Maurice Frankel, Director, Campaign for Freedom of Information
· Antonia Romeo, Head of Information Rights Division, Department for Constitutional Affairs
· Graham Smith, Deputy Information Commissioner, Information Commissioner’s Office

Afternoon seminar sessions will provide delegates the opportunity to interact with experts on specific FOI-related topics:

· Dealing with contracts and commercial confidentiality issues
· Responding to requests for personal information
· Streamlining your FOI processes
· Handling EIRs in the new FOI environment
· Administering fees and answering vexatious requests
· Managing responses to media and political requests
· Working through the complaints and appeals process

Places for the conference are limited so please book soon. For more information about the conference and to reserve your place, please visit www.involve-me.com/foilive2005

Media roundup

BBC News - Iraq date should be published
"The government should reveal the date it first sought legal advice on the Iraq war, a watchdog body has said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) had refused the request from the Lib Dems, saying it might "harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion"

The Times 16th February - You may be dying to know this
"Sir Bruce Keogh, gave warning yesterday that piecemeal publication of such detailed data by individual hospitals, which is already happening, partly due to the Freedom of Information Act, is “irresponsible” and could be “devastating” for patients and the profession."

Daily Telegraph - Surgeons seek to block heart league tables
"Sir Bruce Keogh, the president-elect of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, and Neil Moat, director of surgery at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, said there was a real danger that the publication, being forced on hospitals under the Freedom of Information Act, would put intolerable stress on patients, surgeons and the NHS."

Cambridge News 15th February - Motorists pay fewest fines for speeding"FEWER drivers are caught by speed cameras in Cambridgeshire than anywhere else in the country.Candid camera: Few drivers caught
New figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that in the year ending March 2004, 20,763 speeding tickets were issued to motorists, netting £1,245,780 in fines."

Cambridge News 15th February - 170 attacks a year on hospital staff
"A gruesome catalogue of abuse is detailed in the log - requested by us under the Freedom of Information Act - showing how staff at the Cambridge hospital have been punched, kicked, bitten, threatened, spat at and scratched by patients."

The Register 14th February - Gov.uk delves into EDS finances

Independent 14th February - Attorney General 'distanced himself from war advice'
"Letters released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, just three days before delivering his legal backing for the war in Iraq and five days before the invasion began, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC wrote to No 10 saying the legal case rested on a personal judgement call by the Prime Minister."

Independent 14th February - Heart deaths up to seven times higher with some surgeons
"Patients will for the first time be able to check the records of their surgeons before going under the knife. The data is being made available in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act ushering in a new era of openness in the NHS."

James Ashley case

BBC news - No files released on Ashley death
"Police have refused to release a report on the fatal shooting of James Ashley, saying it would be too expensive. Sussex Police said files on his death in 1998 contain 30,000 pieces of paper, which would cost £3,000 to photocopy."

This case was featured in Radio Merseyside yesterday and was asked to provide comment in the lunctime news feature.

There would appear to many issues here:

-The costs of the providing files relating to the case have clearly breached the £450 limit in the fees regs-Duty to assist and advise - the requestor in this case should receive help to narrow down the reqest
-The statement by Sussex Police that: "The force also adds that because of legal difficulties it would cost 11,500 of lawyer's time to examine the papers to work out which sections could be released." is not following the Fees regulations
-The Fees guidance from DCA states: "An authority may not take into account any costs other than those set out in the Regulations. In particular it may not take account of the expected costs of: the time taken to check that a request for information meets the requirements of the FOI Act [Endnote 5]; considering whether the information requested should be withheld in reliance on an exemption under the FOI Act. This includes any costs incurred through seeking legal advice about whether exemptions apply;"
-There may grounds for appeal on calculation of costs

New section - index of disclosure logs

I have replaced the request watch section on the blog due to lack of use. There is a now a new section linking to the "disclosure logs" currently available on public authority websites. A disclosure log lists previous requests and links to the released documents. Only certain authorities have at present but numbers should grow over the next month. Please email any links: steve_wood62@hotmail.com

Stop releasing papers until after election, Major says

I really get the feeling that Major doesn't get the principles of FOI....the operation of Act cannot be suspended due to poltical campaigning.

See : Stop releasing papers until after election, Major says from the Independent 11th February

His approach to FOI was reflected in opting for non statutory code of practice back in 1994

New Guidance: role of the Information Commissioner

New guidance has been issued on DCA website the role of the Information Commissioner and how they work with the Department for Constitutional Affairs in operating the Freedom of Information Act.

Dirty tricks? No, telling the truth

We seem not to have understood what the Freedom of Information Act is for
by Nick Cohen
Sunday February 13, 2005
The Observer

Media Roundup

Cumberland News 11th February -Lawyer warns of FOI dangers

"Nicholas Richards, a partner in Cartmell Shepherd solicitors, believes some businesses will use the Act to obtain information on rivals, such as the details of bids to win local-authority contracts."

Scotsman 13th February - Councils wasting millions in care costs, secret report reveals "A SECRET government report into a flagship scheme designed to care for Scotland’s most vulnerable people has uncovered evidence that councils have squandered millions of pounds of public funds.... total of £426m was paid out last year, but the private report - released to Scotland on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act - found that the services being provided by different councils varied wildly in cost, with some charging thousands of pounds more than neighbouring authorities."

BBC News 13th February - Hundreds use new information act
"Scotland's public bodies have received more than 400 requests for information since new rules on openness came into force at the start of the year...Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion revealed the figure as he prepared to launch a public awareness campaign about the Freedom of Information Act. Mr Dunion said research has shown that only about 30% of people in Scotland have heard of the act"

Sunday Times Scotland 13th February - Doctors call for law change as firm checks prescribing habits
"THE British Medical Association (BMA) is demanding a review of the Freedom of Information Act after it was used by a private company to obtain details of the prescribing habits of hundreds of Scottish doctors.....IMS, an American-based market intelligence company, plans to pass on the information to pharmaceutical firms, which could use the data to target GP practices that are not using their drugs"

The Guardian 12th February - Howard pre-empts Labour trawl of papers from 1990s "Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, yesterday called for the immediate publication of selected government papers covering his period in charge of the Home Office."

Article 19: ACE doesn't get FOIA

Article 19.co.uk - February 08, 2005 (different to Article 19.org)

Comment on their website:
"Arts Council England has been found wanting when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that came into force on January 1st of this year.
Several requests made by Article19 for information regarding various projects have either been returned incomplete, lacking even the most basic information or have simply not been returned at all. Failing to provide information under the terms of the act is against the law and ACE could be subjected to an enforcement notice from the Information Commission if a complaint is made."

Treasury challenged over deleted sections

FT.com 11th February -Treasury challenged over deleted sections
"The Financial Times is challenging the Treasury's decision to delete key sections of the Black Wednesday files released this week under the new information laws. The FT has applied for an internal review of the Treasury's refusal to release the documents in their entirety. The government said full disclosure would jeopardise international relations, the British economy and the formulation of policy."

Freedom of Information: The Teeth of Contractual Consultation Obligations

08 February 2005
Mondaq.com Article by Richard Best

Abstract:
"It is well known that the Freedom of Information Act 2000's right of access to information held by public authorities came into force on 1 January 2005. It is also known that commercial entities dealing with or otherwise providing information to public authorities could be affected by the changes. For example, individuals, competitors, journalists or potential claimants may request and sometimes obtain commercially sensitive information originally supplied by those entities. "

Black Wednesday and ERM

The release and debate around the release of documents relating to Black Wednesday and ERM certainly gave FOI its bigget media profile so far this year. The story was the main feature on many bulletins, including the Ten O'Clock News. There was also a feature on the digital news extra feature.

The day started with BBC publishing documents they had been accidently sent showing the internal debate over the releases at the Treasury. Later in the day the documents were released onto the Treasury website, with some differences to the suggested releases earlier published by the BBC. Since then the row has errupted that Labour has used FOI has political tool to attach the Conservatives. This seems hard to understand, as the request came from the FT and had to be released within the 20 day limit.

However the issues that will be important related to this story may relate to future requests for more recent Treasury papers covers issues such as internal calculations relating to the entry into the Euro or growth forecasts if a precedent has been set.

News in the Telegraph this morning an an article entitled Falconer offers ex-ministers right of appeal on Freedom Act:
"In an attempt to lower the political temperature, he has written to Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, this week proposing the introduction of a protocol for the publication of papers relating to previous administrations.Under the guidelines, former Tory ministers would be contacted as soon as a request for documents involving them was received. They would then be sent the papers and given five days to ask the Attorney General - a semi-independent law officer - to block publication. If a decision was taken to release the documents against their wishes, they would also be able to appeal a second time to the Attorney General restating their concerns."

It is unclear how this will work in practice, whether this will be merely guidance or will the Act be ammended, will this consultation period extend requests over 20 days - why the Attorney General and not the Information Commissioner?

In a further article in the Telegraph: Rules on data 'make governing impossible':"The new Freedom of Information regime is making good government "impossible", a senior minister claimed last night."It's a complete bloody shambles," the minister told The Telegraph privately.

Further media stories:
FT.com 10th February - Losses on currency markets cost more than £3bn

Independent 10th February - Britain's exit from ERM on Black Wednesday cost £4bn

Independent 10th February - Dirty politics and the perversion of a new freedom

Guardian 10th February - Treasury papers reveal cost of Black Wednesday

Guardian 10th February - Tories cry foul over secret papers

The Times 10th February - Prime Minister was ready to resign after currency crisis

The Times 10th February- Money and murk- Reflections on the ERM and the Freedom of Information Act

BBC - Major welcomes ERM papers release

freedominfo.org update - February 9, 2005

International openness advocates assist Slovakian reformers
Against government claim that EU directive protects "silent refusal"

Taken from: http://www.freedominfo.org

"Washington, D.C. - Freedom of information advocates in 10 countries plus the U.S. state of New York today combined forces on-line within an elapsed time of four hours to help Slovakian openness reformers refute a governmental secrecy claim, according to a case study of the on-line networking posted today by freedominfo.org.

Slovakian lawyer Peter Wilfing, with the Citizen and Democracy Association in Bratislava, posted his request for help on the foiadvocates.net list at 6:57 a.m. on February 9; and within four hours the posting had circulated on several related lists and Wilfing had received advice and legal precedents from experts in South Africa, India, Canada, Israel, Hungary, Ireland, Bulgaria, the U.S., Latvia, Germany, and the state of New York. The managing editor of freedominfo.org, Thomas Blanton, said, "This is a remarkable demonstration of the power of on-line networking in the digital age." "

Freedom of Information and Contemporary British History

One-day seminar ‘Freedom of Information and Contemporary British History’ on Wednesday 16 March 2005. Centre for Contemporary British History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London

Cost: £25 Full registration fee £15 Reduced registration fee for students* and Friends of CCBH * please bring your current student card with you on the day

More details and booking

MoD asbestos contamination

Thanks to blog reader David Newton, for supplying a copy of the response to the FOI request he made about asbestos contimnated files at the MoD. In particlular David was interested in Chiefs of Staff Committee papers that were effected.

You download the full reponse as a word document: newtonredact.docnewtonredact.doc

The document states: "In view of the risks associated from asbestos the files affected were isolated and safeguarded; in accordance with health and safety guidance they have been securely stored in plastic sacks and placed in crates to permit safe handling and have now been relocated to a secure MOD site located on the periphery of London.

In all some 63,000 files are affected, estimated to contain up to 10 million pages. They are contained in 3000 large crates.

....The pilot project will see, over a period of 2/3 months, the scanning of 50,000 to 75,000 pages. Documents have been identified for scanning on the basis of their variety, a mixed collection of papers ranging from conventional files, bound volumes (including the 1974 COS volumes) and reports to fully test the scanning regime."

Black Wednesday papers

Now available on the Treasury website

Treasury 'holds back' ERM papers

BBC News 9th February
"Treasury officials are holding back paperwork relating to Britain's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in September 1992, the BBC has learned.
Documents obtained by BBC News' Freedom of Information Unit show internal rows about what information to make public about "Black Wednesday". "

"Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, told Today: "What is interesting here is that they decide not to object to the exchanges between the chancellor and the prime minister in 1992."

The BBC have "accidently" received a copy of the proposed Treasury response: they have posted a PDF to download

"The documents were sent to the corporation in an e-mail, apparently by mistake, and they reveal internal rows about how to respond to the Financial Times request"

Birmingham-Paradise Circus secrets revealed

IC Birmingham 7th February - Paradise Circus secrets revealed "Consultants appointed by Birmingham City Council to investigate the feasibility of a £1 billion redevelopment of Paradise Circus and the Central Library site warned the project was financially flawed and unlikely to succeed. A blunt report by Jones Lang LaSalle and Gardiner and Theobald was submitted in February 2003, but kept under wraps by the council. The paper has been obtained by The Birmingham Post under the Freedom of Information Act, although council lawyers censored what they considered sensitive parts of the document. Officials said the details were commercially sensitive and it would not be in the public interest to release them."

Further DCA FOI disclosures

The following FOI disclosures have been added to the DCA website, without links to to the full documents though.

3 Feb 2005 Pension arrangements of the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor

3 Feb 2005 Legal Services Consultative Panel
Minutes of the fourth meeting of the Legal Services Consultative Panel held on the 28 February 2000.

2 Feb 2005 Proportional representation in the voting system
Documents related to the Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System

1 Feb 2005 Lord Irvine's resignation
A copy of Lord Irvine's resignation letter dated 12 June 2003 and the Prime Minister's response.

1 Feb 2005 Special advisors
Salaries and expenses of special advisors of the Department Constitutional Affairs in 2004. Information relating to the cost of special advisors is published annually (Hansard, 22 July 2004, col 466w-470w). Special advisors in the DCA claimed no expenses in 2004.

1 Feb 2005 Office of Lord Chancellor in the constitutional system of the United Kingdom.
Note of a meeting held on 23 October 2002 between departmental officials and Erik Jurgens, Rapporteur on the office of the Lord Chancellor in the constitutional system of the UK for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.

31 Jan 2005 Details of personal expenses of the Lord Chief Justice for the last five years.
The Lord Chief Justice's expenses associated with overseas visits and conferences and domestic rail travel.

31 Jan 2005 Email guidance
Guidance to staff on the use of e-mail issued in July 2004 by the Head of the Home Civil Service. The guidance covers email status, content, disclosability, responsibility and storage / destruction.

31 Jan 2005 Salaries for Lord Falconer, Mr David Lammy, Mr Christopher Leslie and Baroness Ashton for 2004 and expense claims for each in the last three months of 2004
Ministers' salaries are published on the Cabinet Office website.

27 Jan 2005 Hunting Act 2004
A letter dated 14 December 2004 to Justices Chief Executives telling them that the Hunting Act 2004 came into force on 18 February 2005.

26 Jan 2005 The cost of maintaining the former judges' lodgings at Telscombe Manor, Lewes between 1 April 2003 - 31 March 2004

UK ministers' diaries stay secret

Financial Times -UK ministers' diaries stay secret
"Ministers are delaying the release of their diaries under the Freedom of
Information Act, despite being formally advised by the most senior civil
servant."

Scotsman - Ministers stall over call to release their diary details
"Government ministers are stalling over releasing details of their
diaries under the Freedom of Information Act."

Further FOI stories

FT.com 7th February - Demand information audit copy if FOI request is not being met
Letter from Sebastian Nokes, Partner, Aldersgate Partners - advises what steps should be taken by the public if freedom of information requests are not being met.
"We recommend that anyone who is not getting a proper reply to their FOI request should submit a further request to the authority asking for a copy of its information audit. If the authority does not have one, or if it is incomplete, the inquirer will be able to show that it has not prepared properly for the act. If it does have one, the inquirer will be able to see where the information sought is likely to be held."

If you want to learn more about information auditing I have written a report, available via FreePint

The Times 7th February - Labour denies dirty tricks claim over Black Wednesday papers

Black Books (Times, p19, 7 February)

New Courses from Act Now Training

FOI and Commercial Confidentiality – York and Manchester

"This highly practical half day workshop is designed to examine the key issues around giving access to commercially sensitive information owned by public authorities or received from private sector partners through contracts and tenders. The workshop style of the course means that delegates will get a chance to explore the issues thoroughly using plenty of case studies and group discussions."

Advanced Records Management – ISO 15489 - London

"This practical course full day course , run by a leading expert in this field, will give you an action plan for bringing the international records management standard into your organisation. There will be a mixture of presentations and workshops. By the end of the day, participants will have a clear understanding of the requirements of ISO 15489 and an action plan for implementation across their organisation"

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

Further HM Treasury disclosures on FOI

Released onto the HMT site on Friday:

04/02/05 Bank of England independence

04/02/05 Handling Freedom of Information requests

Media Roundup

Observer 6th February - We must not use our new freedom to play politics
"The information act is fair on all parties, writes Lord Falconer"

Sunday Telegraph 6th February - Britain's top civil servant dragged into Labour dirty tricks row
"In a highly unusual intervention, Sir Andrew Turnbull, the Cabinet Secretary, insisted that his involvement in a dispute over the disclosure of documents relating to Black Wednesday in 1992 had been "entirely proper". Furious: Sir Andrew Turnbull
Sir Andrew is understood to be furious after being portrayed as part of an "old boy network" that tried to block the publication of the highly sensitive documents under the new Freedom of Information Act. It was alleged that he had worked with John Major and Norman Lamont, the Prime Minister and Chancellor in September, 1992, to stop the papers being made public."

Guardian 2nd February - Quest for answers
"After years of being fobbed off or simply ignored, green campaigners believe the Freedom of Information Act could be a powerful tool in forcing open the door to an era of greater environmental justice. John Vidal and Rob Evans"

The Times 4th February - Cover-up row over £27 billion secret of Black Wednesday
"Highly sensitive Treasury papers on the events leading to Black Wednesday in 1992 are being kept secret at the request of John Major and Lord Lamont of Lerwick, Prime Minister and Chancellor at the time, The Times has learnt."

The Times 4th February - Mandarins are far from free with information despite new legal rights
"Most government departments were refusing to give details last night of how many freedom of information requests they had turned down, or the reasons why. Very few requests had fallen into the “absolute exemption” category and been turned down flat, although several departments appeared to be hiding behind excuses not to respond to requests. One of the most frequently cited was the need for extra time to ensure that it was in the public interest to disclose the information."

The Mirror 5th February - No 10 plans Tory smear before poll
"Labour was yesterday accused of using the new Freedom of Information Act to smear Michael Howard and the Tories in the run up to the election. A leaked Labour memo suggests workers are to ask for files relating to a relative of Mr Howard jailed for drug offences."

The Independent 5th February - Whitehall 'abusing spirit' of disclosure law
"The Government was accused of abusing "the spirit" of the Freedom of Information Act yesterday by people whose questions had been blocked.They expressed frustration with the lack of openness shown by Whitehall departments and blamed the Government for "going out of their way to avoid giving out material."

FT.com 5th February - Lamont approves full publication of Black Wednesday archives
"Lord Lamont, the former chancellor, gave the green light yesterday to the publication of about 300 pages of Treasury documents on the events of Black Wednesday, when the pound was ejected from the European exchange rate mechanism, insisting he had never sought to keep them secret."

FT.com 4th February - Black Wednesday document wait leads to manipulation claims
"Sensitive papers relating to Black Wednesday - theday sterling was expelled from Europe's exchange rate mechanism - are certain to be published soon. But sug-gestions by some Whitehall figures that the publication of the papers has been delayed has raised questions about how effectively the Freedom of Information Act is working."

Eastern daily Press 4th February - Report sums up cost of new hospital
"Confidential documents covering the Private Finance Initiative scheme to build Norfolk's flagship hospital have been made public.
The contractual details have been released by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital after the EDP asked to see them under the new Freedom of Information Act. Published for the first time are the two key agreements between the trust and Octagon Healthcare, the private consortium that built the £229m hospital."

Prize giveaway

I have a prize to give away to blog readers: a place at the Ark group conference: FOI SOS 20-21st April 2005

All you have to do is email me your name and full contact details by the 11th February 2005 and answer this question:

Who was the Labour Cabinet Minister who introduced the first White Paper on FOI called "Your Right to Know" in 1997?

Your name will be drawn from a "virtual hat". Email to steve_wood62@hotmail.com with prize as the subject heading

Please see below for full details of the conference, I will be chairing the event.

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FOI SOS

Managing and responding to FOI and EIR requests post-implementation

20-21 April, 2005 - London

Book before 5th March & save 10% (Put this date in your diary now!)

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A two-day conference designed to help you.....

Compare experiences and challenges with your peers. This event will focus on the practicalities and lessons learnt in the first few months of implementation and will offer clear guidance on maintaining an effective framework for compliance for the future.

Why should you attend.....

This event will give you the chance to reflect on how well your organisation is responding to FOI and EIR and will address your key concerns. Learn how to interpret the clause of confidentiality, apply the Public Interest Test for qualified exemptions and how other public bodies are managing fees and refusals. You will hear exclusive case studies from all the major players, including Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, and speakers from a range of public sector organisations including:

- Department for Constitutional Affairs
- DEFRA
- Friends of the Earth
- Campaign for Freedom of Information
- London Borough of Southwark
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For more information on this event please got to www.ark-group.com, call the Marketing team on 0208 785 2700 or email events@ark-group and quote booking ref 628-Nii

Seminar: How FoI Law Affects Suppliers to the Public Sector

E-Government Bulletin Seminar
http://www.headstar.com/egb/
Venue : RICS, Westminster
9 March 2005

The UK’s new Freedom of Information Act is designed to boost trust and openness in the public sector. But what are its implications for suppliers to the sector? Will commercially confidential information be revealed to competitors? How can sensitive information be protected when entering into supplier and partnership contracts? What do private sector employees working for public sector clients need to know about the new law, to ensure they help their clients with compliance? What opportunities does FoI provide for suppliers? What other implications are there for suppliers?

Our wide-ranging seminar will cover all these areas in a lively, incisive way and will be of interest for senior managers and marketing executives of all e-government and other public sector supplier companies

Contact mel@headstar.com for more details

HM Treasury : first FOI disclosures

The following documents have been released onto the HM Treasury website:
01/02/05 Appointment of Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England
01/02/05 Equitable life
01/02/05 Golden rule
01/02/05 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
01/02/05 House price projections
01/02/05 PFI Jarvis
01/02/05 PFI rates of return
01/02/05 PFI table 19
01/02/05 Wanless Review
12/01/05 EU membership costs

Will assess these in more detail, on first glance - the PFI/Jarvis documents look interesting:

Subject: PFI Jarvis

Date of disclosure: 1 February 2005

Request:

Files covering the Treasury's discussions in July and August last year of contingency plans to cover the possibility of the PFI contractor Jarvis going bust including analysis undertaken by the Treasury of the issue, and any contingency plans put in place.

Disclosure:

PDF file of documents containing relevant information includes:

Internal note, 22 July 2004
Submission, 23 July 2004
Letter inviting authorities to a meeting
Powerpoint slides of the presentation given by HMT and PUK at the meeting with authorities on 28 July
Notes of the group sessions with authorities
Letter to DfES and SE setting out contingency plan arrangements.
Draft note 28 July 2004 “Contingency plan: incentivising sub-contractors’ performance.”

Response: Attorney General's advice on ID cards & listing of advice

Details of refusal of the Attorney General's advice on ID cards & listing of advice have been posted on Your Right to Know

Independent covers FOI

The Independent newspaper has several features on FOI today (2nd Feb.):

Is this freedom of information?
One month into the Government's 'new era of openness', outrage grows at a catalogue of obfuscation and evasion in answer to requests for disclosure


Government attacked for 'hypocritical' attitude to Freedom of Information Act
"Ministers' promises to usher in a new age of freedom of information have failed to materialise, with scores of requests to open the Government to public scrutiny being rejected."

You may ask questions - but the Government still has the freedom not to answer them
"The worst fears about the effectiveness of the Government's Freedom of Information Act have been confirmed."

FOI on Radio 2

Journalist Heather Brooke was interviewed on the Jeremy Vine show yesterday on Radio 2. The discussion also involved some detailed debate and issues covered included some interesting questions from people calling into the show.

Listen again here (one week only, real player required)

Home Office Misses Information Act Deadline

The Scotsman 1st Feb - Home Office Misses Information Act Deadline
"The Home Office today breached the Government’s own Freedom of Information Act by failing to reply to applications lodged by the Press Association.Out of eight requests submitted to the department, four have not been answered within the deadline set out by the Act, which came into force at the beginning of this month"

FOI on Radio 4

There was a feature on FOI related to the first 20 days of operation, assessing what has been released. Interviews journalists who have used the Act, the Conservative Party spokesman and Goverment Information Service spokesman.

Listen here(Real player required) (4 mins long)

FOIA (US): Freedom of Information Comes at a $372,799 Cost

From Law.com:

"Washington public interest group's attempt to discover the extent to which the government has sought to hide legal proceedings involving immigrant detainees since Sept. 11 has been stymied by a huge, upfront tab for research. People for the American Way Foundation has been told it must pay nearly $400,000 before the Department of Justice will process its Freedom of Information Act request. The general counsel for the group, which hopes to publish a public report about government secrecy efforts against hundreds of unidentified detainees, called the unusually large fee requirement "outrageous." "

You can read more about the US fees structure at : http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/fees.htm
"Prior to the passage of the Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986, (1) the FOIA authorized agencies to assess reasonable charges only for document search and duplication, and any assessable fees were to be waived or reduced if disclosure of the requested information was found to be generally in the "public interest." (2) The FOIA Reform Act brought significant changes to the way in which fees are now assessed under the FOIA. A new fee structure was established, including a new provision authorizing agencies to assess "review" charges when processing records in response to a commercial-use request. (3) Specific fee limitations and restrictions were set on the assessment of certain fees both in general as well as for certain categories of requesters. (4) Additionally, the 1986 FOIA amendments replaced the statutory fee waiver provision with a revised standard. (5) These revised fee and fee waiver provisions were made effective as of mid-1987, but required implementing agency regulations to become fully effective. (6)"

Guide to FOI in Scotland

Useful guide and links, by Jonathan Mitchell QC

http://www.jonathanmitchell.info/informationlaw.html

Flagship hospital 'hit by barrage of changes'

FT.com 31st January - Flagship hospital 'hit by barrage of changes'

By Nicholas Timmins, Public Policy Editor

"One of the government's flagship foundation hospitals, which has hit serious financial trouble, saw its operations crumble under "a barrage of changes" that are hitting all parts of the National Health Service, according to an analysis of the crisis. Within a matter of months Bradford Teaching Hospitals went from projecting a £2.4m surplus to facing a deficit that is likely this year to top £11m on a £216m turnover. But a report commissioned by Monitor, the trust's independent regulator and released to the Financial Times under the Freedom of Information Act, says there was "no one problem" that caused the financial crisis."

Deputy in vote fraud data bid

Birmingham Evening Mail 31st January - Deputy in vote fraud data bid
"The deputy leader of Birmingham City Council has invoked the Freedom of Information Act against his own local authority in a bid to obtain confidential reports about alleged postal-ballot fraud"