Evidence submitted by The Local Government
Association
FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION
1. The Local Government Association (LGA)
was formed on 1 April 1997 and represents the local authorities
of England and Wales—a total of just under 500 authorities
representing over 50 million people.
2. The main areas of activity for the LGA
on FoI have been to provide two comprehensive guides to the Act
which have benefited from the advice received from the Office
of the Information Commissioner. In addition the Association worked
with staff from the Information Commissioner's Office to deliver
advice to local authorities on the development of publication
scheme.
3. In particular the advice given by the
Information Commissioner's staff during the research and preparation
of the Association's most recent practical guide Delivering
Freedom of Information has proved to be valuable to member
authorities of the Association. It is hoped that similar levels
of support will be made available to the Association on any future
projects.
4. A major area where the Association would
appreciate improvements is in the delivery of information, authoritative
case studies and advice notes that are both practicable and workable.
These would benefit enormously if prepared in consultation with
local authority officers currently working on implementation.
As detailed implementation issues become more apparent the Association
would like to see additional clarification, interpretation and
examples of case studies and best practice on the website of the
Commission.
5. Advisers have commented that while existing
material on the site is helpful there would be more value in improved
access through e-mail alerts and more comprehensive "What's
New" functions. The development of features such as "Frequently
Asked Questions" or other interactive areas in which local
authorities can raise particular issues would be welcomed.
6. In conclusion, the level of preparedness
for FoI among local authorities varies enormously and additional
advice and information from the Office of the Information Commissioner
is vital if the benefits of FoI are to be exploited. This is very
much reflected in the findings of the Information Commissions
own survey of local authorities in February 2004 which found that:
— There appears to be a consistent
need for detailed guidance to correctly interpret requirements
of the FOI Act.
— Examples of best practice and the
approach to carrying out the public interest test were frequently
requested.
— It was also requested that guidance
be timely and frequently updated.
— The majority of English Councils
reported that they would find it useful to attend events organised
by the Commissioner to help in the implementation of the FOI Act.
(It may be that greater benefits could be gained if organisations
such as the LGA are involved in the design and promotion of these
events and practical exchanges of information).
7. The ICO survey also concluded that there
was a general recognition of the importance of good records management
although at the time of the survey many authorities were still
at the stage of finalising policies. The estimates of the costs
of implementing effective Records Management are significant.
The position of the Department of Constitutional Affairs has been
that when the FoI Act was passed Ministers said "it should
be implemented within existing resources because putting it in
place is about a re-engineering of the way authorities handle
the information they hold and conduct much of their business".
Local Government Association
May 2004
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