Freedom of information review: Government rules out charges for FOI requests
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Version 0 of 1. Ministers have decided not to introduce monetary charges for freedom of information requests, following a review of the policy. Under the Freedom of Information Act, introduced in 2000, any private citizen can request any information held by a public body, subject to certain restrictions. FOI is regularly used by campaigners and the media to scrutinise the Government’s activities, at both a local and national level. Officials and ministers have however complained that the extra scrutiny the Act provides does not give them a “safe space” to discuss things without the public knowing about it. Tony Blair has said he regrets introducing the law, describing himself as a “naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop”. The Government set up a Freedom of Information Commission last year to look at the policy and how it might be changed. One of the ways proposed to water down the transparency rules was to introduce fees – however this has now been rejected. “After 10 years, we took the decision to review the Freedom of Information Act and we have found it is working well,” Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock said. “We will not make any legal changes to FOI. We will spread transparency throughout public services, making sure all public bodies routinely publish details of senior pay and perks. “After all, taxpayers should know if their money is funding a company car or a big pay-off.” The Government – which has a slim majority and could face defeat over any controversial proposals – says it will not legislate to change the Act. In September newspapers including the Independent, Guardian, the Daily Mail, Metro, Evening Standard, the Sun, Times, Telegraph and Mirror group, signed a joint letter addressed to the Prime Minister asking him not to water down the law. Britain’s top civil servant, the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, also said he opposed significant changes to the Act’s powers and instead favoured clarification. |