Doesn't cover data protection, confidentiality or official secrets act
Anyone can ask for information from public bodies, only a few exemptions
Applies to paper files, videos, tape and electronics
100,000 requests a year but journos only make up 12%
New Labour - Tony Blair - "Unnecessary secrecy in government leads to arrogance and defective policy decisions"
- promote accountability and transparency
- allow individuals to understand why government makes decisions
Make a request through writing, email is fine
wwww.whatdotheyknow.com - check if your request has already been answered
They can say no if it's too expensive or if the information is exempt. You can argue the decision.
Two kinds of exemption:
-ABSOLUTE (eg security services, court records)
No duty to confirm or deny if info exists
-QUALIFIED (eg ministerial communications, commercial confidentiality)
Maybe. Controversial. Gain info based on public interest
Public interest - not merely interesting to the public
20 working days
Update: government is considering adding more limits to FOI
-Limit groups or individuals making too many requests
-Lower limit on costs
-Include other factors such as time taken to release info of not into cost calculations
-Press and Freedom of Speech protestors are very critical
No comments:
Post a Comment