1 Introduction
1. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (hereafter
FOI Act) comes fully into force on 1 January 2005, providing
a general right of access to information held by public authorities.
This is an important piece of legislation and one which is very
welcome—the Committee fully supports its aims and looks
forward to its successful operation in the future.
2. As part of our oversight of bodies related to,
or accountable to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA),
the Committee took evidence from the Information Commissioner,
Mr Richard Thomas, and senior officials in his office in May 2004,
which provided insight into a number of issues surrounding the
implementation of the Act. [1]
3. We subsequently decided to conduct a short inquiry
into the state of preparedness of public bodies for implementation
of the FOI Act in January 2005, focusing on representative sectors.
The inquiry's terms of reference were to address:
- The state of preparedness for
the implementation of FOI legislation;
- Issues of implementation for central government
departments;
- Issues of implementation for local authorities
and smaller public bodies;
- The role of the DCA in co-ordinating the implementation
of the Act.
4. The scale of what is being undertaken in implementing
a major piece of legislation across the whole public sector presents
a significant challenge for those charged with implementing it
and for the Government in overseeing this process. We had previously
been told by the DCA that the preparedness of central government
departments appeared to be progressing reasonably well and this
was confirmed by evidence from the Information Commissioner in
May 2004. Accordingly, the Committee decided to focus its inquiry
on representative sectors away from central government, along
with issues relevant to all sectors arising from this work. This
report offers a snapshot into the state of preparedness in the
final months before full implementation of the Act.
5. Our report is not a full sector-by-sector assessment
across the 100,000 public sector bodies that will be covered by
the legislation from 1 January 2005. The Department produces its
own annual report into the state of preparedness and issued its
latest report on 29 November 2004.[2]
The National Audit Office (NAO) has been engaged in a detailed
study of a number of central government departments in association
with the DCA, the results of which were drawn on in the production
of their 'Good Practice Guide' for implementers, Counting Down—Moving
from need to know to right to know.[3]
However, although its circulation was claimed to be wide, the
guide was actually only produced for central government bodies
and not for the majority of public sector bodies covered by the
FOI Act.[4]
6. The DCA has suggested that it has sought to learn
from the lessons of other countries in implementing the FOI Act.
Some of the lessons, according to the Lord Chancellor, were "sobering".
Implementation has been beset by three problems
in other parts of the world. A lack of leadership. Inadequate
support for those who are administering access requests. And a
failure to realise that Freedom of Information implementation
is not an event: it is a process which demands long-term commitment.[5]
Lord Falconer added: "I am determined that we
in this country will avoid these mistakes".[6]
We consider below how far these dangers have been avoided and
whether the DCA has met the challenge of effectively supporting
preparations for implementation.
7. We decided to test the extent to which the Department
had lived up to its stated aims. We selected: the police service;
the health sector; and; local government, as being representative
of the wide range of bodies facing the challenge of preparing
for FOI implementation. We aimed to draw attention to issues of
concern, which, even at this late stage, may benefit from attention
by the DCA and Information Commissioner. In particular we considered
the preparations for effective compliance, which has proved in
other jurisdictions to be as important as the legislative framework.[7]
8. We took oral evidence from representatives of
the National Archives, the Campaign for Freedom of Information,
the Association of Chief Police Officers, the National Health
Service, the British Medical Association, the Local Government
Association, the Improvement and Development Agency, the Information
Commissioner's Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
We also received written evidence which is listed on page 49.
We are grateful to all those who contributed.
1 Constitutional Affairs Committee, oral and written
evidence 11 May 2004, Session 2003-04, The Work of the Information
Commissioner, HC 593-i Back
2
Department for Constitutional Affairs, Annual Report on proposals
for bringing fully into force those provisions of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 which are not yet fully in force,
29 November 2004, HC 5 Back
3
National Audit Office, Counting Down: Moving from the Need
to Know to Right to Know, October 2004. This was produced
in association with the DCA and ICO Back
4
Covering letter to Counting Down, op cit Back
5
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, speech to Campaign for Freedom of Information,
1 March 2004, www.dca.gov.uk/publications.htm Back
6
ibid Back
7
Rick Snell, "Administrative Compliance and Freedom of Information
in Three Jurisdictions", (1999), at www.ucc.ie/ucc/depts/law/foi/conference/snell99.html
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