Attorney Matthews Bark Of Orlando | Freedom of Information Act under threat as government considers charging for requests

Source    :The Argus
By        :  Joel Adams
Category  : Attorney Matthews Bark Of Orlando

THIS newspaper’s ability to unearth scandals, criminality and the misuse of taxpayer’s money is under threat.

Freedom of Information requests by The Argus have brought to light dangerous criminals being on the loose, ruinous under investment in the seafront, failures on the railways and even doctors’ malpractice.

Had the act not been in force this information would have been almost impossible to unearth.

However, the government is considering imposing limits or charges which would prevent this paper, along with other media outlets and millions of citizen journalists, from gaining access to important information.

The Freedom of Information Act 2005 was brought in by the Blair government and applies to more than 100,000 public sector bodies including local and central government, police forces, schools and the NHS.

It enables anybody to ask for information and given it does not fall under a series of exemptions (such as a threat to national security) it has to be released.

The government's consultation comes as Brighton and Hove City Council was criticized last week for reversing its policy of making past FOI requests available to the public online.

Steve Parry, who has filed dozens of requests in the city, said: “People generally, and journalists in particular, have to see that processes have not been a result of undue lobbying, influence or ignorance.

“If there are changes to the act, there will be more information hidden and for a functioning democracy you need to have information.”

The government is considering imposing a £20 charge for each FOI, which would put requests out of reach of most individuals and cash-strapped local newspapers.


Mike Gilson, editor of The Argus, said: "It has been a vital tool in opening up the sort of detail and fact that fuels debate in a properly democratic society.

All institutions have a tendency not to share information. It’s in their DNA. When you hear statutory authorities saying they believe in transparency it is usually transparency on their terms.

"The list of stories uncovered by The Argus using the act is impressive testimony to the important role in plays."

The review of the act was triggered by the Supreme Court ruling that the government must publish the so-called “black spider memos” written by Prince Charles to ministers.

The review focuses on whether additional safeguards are needed to protect the internal deliberations of public bodies, and whether the cost of answering FOI requests has become too great.

Central government has received between 30,00 and 52,000 requests a year since the act was passed, at an average cost of £184 in staff time to resolve each.


THE REAL CRIME RATES REVEALED

THE Argus discovered Sussex Police bosses were failing to inform the public about hundreds of crimes after filing a Freedom of Information request.  It was the only way this newspaper could tell readers 787 crimes were reported in a fortnight – while police press officers only told you about two of them.

They included rapes, robberies, kidnapping, possession of firearms and other weapons, drugs trafficking and threats to kill – most of which remain unsolved.  On July 9 the force faced criticism for failing to be transparent in the wake of this revelation despite having one of the highest expenditures of all forces for communications – £1.2 million.


(Source:theargus.co.uk/news/14111937.Freedom_of_Information_Act_under_threat_as_government_proposes_charging_for_requests/)