The Freedom of Information Act risks “sliding into obsolescence” without urgent reforms, according to a new report seen by openDemocracy.
A report published by transparency charity mySociety on Wednesday recommends sweeping changes to the regulation of Freedom of Information (FOI), and calls for FOI legislation to be extended to private providers of public services.
The British government’s handling of FOI has been heavily criticised. Last year openDemocracy revealed that an ‘Orwellian’ Cabinet Office ‘Clearing House’ unit was vetting information requests.
Freedom of Information is regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has powers over both FOI and data protection.
MySociety, which runs a number of transparency projects including the FOI site WhatDoTheyKnow.com, calls for the ICO’s data protection and access to information functions to be split into two offices and for responsibility for the regulator to be given to Parliament rather than a government department.
The ICO’s data protection and FOI portfolios are on “divergent paths”, according to the ‘Reforming Freedom of Information’ report.
FOI makes up a small part of the ICO, the report adds, and “suffers for being funded through a government department”, and is “increasingly out of alignment with the main goals of the organisation”.
The report’s author, Alex Parsons, said it was a “worrying time” for FOI in the UK.
“The law has survived several crises, and when it is threatened, civil society rallies to defend it. But this just means the end of FOI will be a slow erosion rather than a big event,” Parsons said.
“To survive, FOI can’t remain static but needs to be adapted to the new circumstances of our times.”
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Jenna Corderoy | Radio Free (2021-04-27T15:04:43+00:00) Freedom of Information in danger of ‘sliding into obsolescence’, new report finds. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/04/27/freedom-of-information-in-danger-of-sliding-into-obsolescence-new-report-finds-2/
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