Midlothian Council secretive according to MSP

A secretive information culture exists at Midlothian Council which fails to ensure it is accountable to council tax-payers, according to a Lothians MSP.

Christine Grahame MSP made the comments after details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed there was no uniform policy on the length of time information — such as emails — should be retained.

Ms Grahame (SNP) said: "The question many council taxpayers will be asking is, 'what have they got to hide?' Virtually every other public body I have dealt with retains and holds an archive of emails written and sent by council officials."

The MSP said the local authority's record and file management procedures were inadequate and has passed on her concerns to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Chief executive of the local authority, Trevor Muir, defended the current system and said: "Record retention schedules are in place across the council in accordance with the business needs of that division. "

MSP makes Midlothian Council secrecy claim (Midlothian Today, 28 August 2008)

MI5's deceptive pigeon plans

British spy chiefs drew up secret plans to use pigeons to spread false rumours about the impending D-Day landings.

The plot in 1943 to drop the birds into German-occupied France is revealed in previously secret files released under the Freedom of Information Act. They detail the Secret Services plans for "using pigeons for deception purposes".

Germany had been intercepting pigeons carrying Allied notes, the files say, so MI5 moved to drop false information. It planned to put extra pigeons over the west coast of France to give the impression the invasion would be there. The revelations come in newly-released files on World War II called “Channels for deception”.

Members of the public can view the 152 newly-released files at the National Archives in Kew, west London.

MI5's D-Day pigeon plot revealed (BBC News, 30 August 2008)

Inflatable penguins cost taxpayer £20,000

A major search and rescue operation in the North Sea which turned out to have been sparked by two inflatable penguins cost the taxpayer £20,000.

Rescue teams were scrambled to the Buchan coast in July after a member of the public reported a small aircraft in difficulty.

But the operation was abandoned when lifeboat crews discovered the "wreckage" was nothing more than two 3ft balloons.

Yesterday figures for the operation were released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The operation involved two coastguard crews, a lifeboat and an RAF Sea King helicopter.

Bill Speirs, coastal safety manager for East Scotland and Ireland, said: "We can't take any chances."

Huge bill for false alarm (The Scotsman, 30 August 2008)

Nurses moonlighting in shops and bars

According to an investigation by the Scotmsan, thousands of nurses in Scotland's hospitals are being forced to take on second jobs to supplement their NHS wages.

"Hundreds of cash-strapped ward staff are moonlighting in shops and bars and many more have signed up for temporary work through the NHS nurse bank agency or taken on extra roles within the health board to make ends meet.

"Campaigners warned patients could be put at risk by overworked staff, while union leaders demanded improvements in pay and conditions.

"The Scotsman has learned that 332 nurses working in Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Borders health boards have second jobs outwith the authority.

"However, these are the only health boards able to provide the information under Freedom of Information legislation. The figure for the whole of Scotland is likely to be about three times higher. This suggests about 1,000 nurses have taken on external jobs, with health chiefs unaware of the extent of the issue."

Patients at risk as nurses take second jobs (The Scotsman, 30 August 2008)

School's out for headteachers

The Scotsman has revealed what it terms a major crisis facing Scotland's schools: a growing shortage of headteachers.

"It has been known for some time that almost half of present headteachers will retire within the next decade. But new figures gathered from local authorities by The Scotsman, using the Freedom of Information Act, suggests these early retirements have reached dangerous levels."

New paths to schools' top jobs must be found (The Scotsman, 18 August 2008)

Ministry of Justice loses personal details of 45000 people

The government department tasked with making policies on data protection has admitted that it mislaid or lost the personal details of 45,000 people.

Annual records for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show the data were on documents and computers before vanishing in nine separate incidents in the past financial year. The laptop at the centre of the last incident, in January 2008, contained 14,000 people’s details but was “inadequately protected” before it was lost from a “secured” building.

It was loaded with the names, addresses and dates of births of fine defaulters, of whom 20% were also identified by their national insurance numbers.

Officials told the police but failed to notify anyone in June, when, in another incident, the personal details of 27,000 people were leaked by “inadequately protected” computer discs.

Names, addresses and bank details of the department’s contractor staff were lost, and remain lost, yet no steps were taken to alert the police or the victims of the “unauthorised disclosure.”

Explaining their inaction, officials said disclosing an incident could “create an unacceptable risk of harm,” and may breach data laws such as the Freedom of Information Act

Government loses 45,000 people's details (Contractor UK, 18 August 2008)

Fuel blunder costs Welsh Council

A bungling council employee ran up a bill for hundreds of pounds after filling up their vehicle with the wrong type of fuel.

The blunder landed Neath Port Talbot Council with a garage bill for £1,411 for repairs to the contract hire vehicle. Council bosses said the cost of repairs was unusually high because work was carried out at an approved dealership. The driver, who has not been named, continued to drive the vehicle after the mistake, which also added to the repair bill.

The error came to light following a Freedom of Information request by the Guardian.

Fuel blunder costs council dear (Wales Online.co.uk, 14 August 2008)

Convicted rapist declared 'safe' eight months before murdering girl

A convicted rapist sexually assaulted and murdered a teenage girl only months after he had been downgraded to the lowest risk level by public protection officials.

Michael Clark, 40, who had a 20-year background of violent and sexual offending and had been jailed for raping a woman he met in a nightclub in 1991, was released from prison in November 2006 and categorised at the highest level of threat to the public.

However in early 2007 that risk was reassessed and Clark was reduced to the lowest level - meaning he was under less supervision by probation officers and police at his new home in Leeds.

Eight months later Clark killed his neighbour's daughter, Zuzanna Zommer, sexually assaulting the 14-year-old before stabbing her in the stomach, fracturing her skull by stamping on her head and slitting her throat.

The shocking blunder by a public protection panel in Leeds - made up of police, probation officers and local authorities - was exposed in new documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

They also revealed that Leeds Council did not find out that Clark was considered "very high risk" until they had already processed his housing application.

An internal report written by council officer Tom Wiltshire, says prison and probation officers in Hull believed Clark was a "very high risk level 3" offender before his release. "This information was not shared with Leeds City Council prior to the homeless decision being reached," the report says.

"It is recognised that initial internal checks on his housing history and on his offending background failed to secure all the information necessary about potential risks posed."

Convicted rapist declared 'safe' months before he murdered teenager (Daily Telegraph, 13 August 208)

FoI in Canada: FoI requests should be the last resort

According to Jonathan Goldsbie, a Freedom of Information request should be a last resort: it is often a time-consuming and frustrating process.

However, in Toronto FoI requests cost money and the cost of such an exercise quickly adds up. Read more about the tortuous process here.

Freedom (of Information) isn't free (Eyeweekly.com, 12 August 2008)

The Right to Know: BBC World Service broadcast

A two-part audio documentary about freedom of information is available to download from the BBC World Service website:

"Freedom of information is well on the way to being seen as an essential prerequisite for a modern democracy. But there's almost always a backlash from politicians and officials. And throughout the world 'right to know' laws have become a subject of controversy and political conflict."

The documentary is in two parts - the first programme looks at the rapid spread of freedom of information and asks whether the many countries now introducing FOI laws are are really acting more in theory than in practice. The second programme looks at MPs' expenses and asks whether having such information actually acheives anything? Is FOI sometimes more symbolic than practical in impact? And does it really help to tackle corruption and scandals in government?

The Right to Know (BBC World Service, 8 August 2008)

Universities accused of social engineering

Top universities are at the centre of a new social engineering row over plans to reject the new A* grade at A-level, according to the Daily Telegraph.

An investigation by the newspaper has uncovered plans by several leading universities to ignore the new award because it will mean offering more places to independent school pupils.

Internal documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that admission committees at a number of Britain's universities are reluctant to sanction the new A* because they fear that state school pupils will not achieve the grade in sufficient numbers.

Universities accused of 'fixing' admissions (Daily Telegraph, 9 August 2008)

£92 million in taxes uncollected by City of Edinburgh Council

£92 million is owed to the city in unpaid council tax, new figures revealed today.

Over £5m is still owed from as far back as 1996-7, when the City of Edinburgh Council was formed.On top of that, around £73m in unpaid poll tax is still owed by Edinburgh residents.

The figures, revealed following a Freedom of Information request by the Evening News, are accurate as of March 31, 2008.

Last year, just over £14m went uncollected, and over £11m is outstanding from 2006-7.

City residents rack up £92m in unpaid poll and council tax (The Scotsman, 9 August 2008)

FoI in Northern Ireland: Annual Report

Freedom of Information requests were condemned last year as being abused by "lazy journalists", but the media was responsible for only 11% of them.

The details are contained in the Northern Ireland government's annual report on Freedom of Information.

It said the 11 NI government departments received a total of 3,164 such requests during 2007.
Of these 62% were from members of the public, 13% from businesses and 11% from the media.
Solicitors, public representatives and researchers account for the remaining 14%.

Press behind 11% of FoI requests (BBC News, 8 August 2008)

False paternity claims

Almost one in five paternity claims handled by the Child Support Agency end up showing the woman has deliberately or inadvertently misidentified the father.

Just under 5,000 paternity claims have been shown by DNA tests to be false since paternity testing figures began to be collected in 1998-99.

Under child support legislation it is a criminal offence to make a false statement or representation, and to provide false documents or information.

However, no woman has ever been prossecuted, according to the CSA.

Figures for 2007/08, compiled using the Freedom of Information Act, show that out of 3,474 tests ordered, 661 or 19 per cent identified the wrong man - the highest yet.

Mothers wrongly identifying fathers in Child Support Agency claims (Daily Telegraph, 1 August 2008)

Court of Appeal ruling: British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection

Information supplied by applicants for animal experiment licences was exempt from disclosure under freedom of information provisions if the official in possession of the information knew or had reasonable grounds for believing that it was given in confidence.

That was a subjective test requiring consideration of the position when the information was given and the intentions of the giver at that time, rather than an objective test derived from the law of confidentiality.

The Court of Appeal so held in a reserved judgment dismissing an appeal by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection against Mr Justice Eady’s decision in the Queen’s Bench Division ([2008] EWHC 892 (QB)) overturning a decision of the Information Tribunal on January 30, 2008 and confirming a decision made by the Information Commissioner on June 12, 2007 that certain information requested by BUAV under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was exempt from disclosure under section 44(1) as a result of section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Information protected from disclosure (The Times, 5 August 2008)

Scotland's teachers stressed and depressed

The Herald reports that new figures reveal that Scotland's teachers are crippled by stress and depression and are taking up to six times the UK average in sick leave due to psychological ill-health.

A survey of state school staff shows that all but one of the 23 local authorities who supplied sickness statistics reported alarming rates of stress, anxiety and depression higher than the UK average.

Official government statistics state the average number of working days lost due to depression and stress-related illness as 0.6 per worker per year.

But newly released figures obtained through Freedom of Information legislation reveal a mental health crisis among teachers in Scotland with an average of over three times this rate, while some councils reported levels of over six times higher.

Scots teachers taking more time off work with stress (The Herald, 3 August 2008)

Scottish Information Commissioner criticised by House of Lords for error in law

A set of anonymised medical statistics about a region is still personal data and should not be released under Freedom of Information laws, the House of Lords has said, overruling the Court of Session and the Scottish Information Commissioner. As a result, the Commissioner's decision has been set aside.

The Lords conducted a two day hearing in April on a case which directly pitted the Scottish Freedom of Information (FOI) Act against the Data Protection Act.

FOI legislation is designed to release information generated by public bodies while data protection laws restrict people's access to information which can be classed as personal data.

The Lords said that the information that Scottish Parliamentary researcher Michael Collie requested from NHS agency the Common Services Agency (CSA) counted as personal data and should not be released.

The Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC), Kevin Dunion, had originally ruled that the anonymised data was not personal and should be released.

This has been overturned, and Dunion came in for stiff criticism in the Lords ruling:

"It has to be said, with respect, that the approach which he took … suffers from a number of defects," the Lords said. "He did not ask himself whether the barnardised data would be personal data within the meaning of section 1(1) DPA" and, if so, whether its disclosure would breach a data protection principles. Indeed "he did not find it necessary to consider whether release of the data in that form would be in accordance with the data protection principles," said the ruling.

"The effect of the Commissioner’s decision was to require the Agency to release information to Mr Collie, not just to give him advice or assistance," said the judgment. "[The SIC] did not pursue the point to its proper conclusion. This was an error of law".

The judges' ruling can be seen here: The ruling

Lords overrule courts, criticise Scottish Information Commissioner (Out-Law.com, 9 July 2008)

Back to square one - leukaemia case to be reconsidered by Scottish Information Commissioner

A three-year struggle to release childhood leukaemia figures in Dumfries and Galloway has been referred back to Scotland's information commissioner.

The House of Lords has ruled he must decide whether the information can be "anonymised" sufficiently for it not to constitute personal data.

The case stems from a freedom of information request by the Green Party.
The Common Services Agency (CSA), which holds the figures, had appealed against rulings ordering their disclosure.

The House of Lords ruling was welcomed by the CSA, which said its "overriding concern" was "to protect the privacy of individual patients".

Dr Adam Bryson, medical director of NHS National Services Scotland, said its motive had been to secure clarity on a "serious issue that potentially impacts on the rights to privacy of each of the 60 million people in the UK".

Lords deliver leukaemia judgment (BBC News, 9 July 2008)

BBC to appeal ICO's Eastenders ruling

The BBC has been ordered to reveal the annual staff costs of its flagship soap EastEnders following a freedom of information request – but has argued successfully that it should not have to say how much it pays stars including Barbara Windsor and Steve McFadden.

Today's decision by the Information Commissioner's Office follows a request in March 2006 from an undisclosed source to the BBC for a disclosure of the total annual staff costs of the BBC1 programme and the annual value of performers' contracts.

The BBC initially refused to meet the request in a response sent the next day, insisting that it was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act because "the BBC, Channel 4 and S4C are covered by the act only in respect of information held for purposes other than journalism, art or literature".

Following an appeal to the ICO, the BBC's arguments were dismissed by assistant information commissioner, Anne Jones, who has ordered the corporation to provide the information by July 22.

However, the BBC said that it is appealing against the ICO's decision and that the July 22 deadline has already been suspended.

"[Anne Jones] considers that the information was held by the BBC for operational purposes such as financial and administrative reasons and therefore it does fall within the scope of the act," the ICO said in a statement today.

BBC forced to reveal EastEnders costs under FoI (The Guardian, 8 July 2008)

Police officers reveal additional "business interests"

Police officers are moonlighting in their spare time, with many taking second jobs as DJs, body piercers, tree surgeons and models, it emerged yesterday.

At least 293 officers across Scotland are making money through additional "business interests", statistics released under the Freedom of Information act revealed.

Police not sticking to their day jobs (The Scotsman, 29 June 2008)

Mid Suffolk Council ordered to disclose repairs and maintenance contracts

Council chiefs in Mid Suffolk have been ordered to release details of a contract to improve a leisure centre after refusing to release the information.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ordered Mid Suffolk District Council to hand over details of contracts relating to repairs and maintenance at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre after dismissing the possibility the information was commercially sensitive.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request, the council initially provided an edited version of the contract, telling the requester it was unwilling to release the financial details.

A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: “The council provided a number of reasons including that disclosure would breach confidentiality, set a precedent and may prevent it from obtaining the best possible price for future work or projects. In her ruling, assistant commissioner, Anne Jones, refused to accept that disclosure would be likely to lead to any change in the tendering process or undermine the council's ability to achieve best value for money. She also refused to accept the council's suggestion that disclosure would deter organisations from entering into business with public authorities on the basis that council contracts are a lucrative source of business for commercial organisations.”

The assistant commissioner has also criticised Mid Suffolk District Council for taking several months to deal with the complainant's request for an internal review and “unacceptable delays” in providing additional information and explanations throughout the investigation.

Council told to come clean over contract (Evening Star 24, 28 June 2008)

Scottish Government considers extending FoI Act to cover more bodies

The Scottish Government is giving "serious thought" to extending Freedom of Information legislation, it was revealed yesterday.

This could mean that freedom of information laws could be extended to cover housing associations, private finance projects and private prisons in Scotland.

Scottish ministers are assessing the possibility of extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, which sets the limits of public access.

A final decision would be subject to formal consultation.

Greater freedom of information on the cards (The Scotsman, 30 June 2008)

Information laws 'may be extended' (The Press Association, 29 June 2008)

Information act could be widened (BBC News, 29 June 2008)

Foreign drivers evade £10m UK speeding fines

Foreign drivers get away with not paying 180,000 speeding and parking fines every year because British authorities cannot trace them.

The Sunday Telegraph used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain speeding ticket figures from 15 police forces. They showed that foreign drivers in those areas fail to pay 27,000 speeding fines annually - pointing to a nationwide total of about 80,000 unpaid speeding fines a year.

Foreign drivers speed off without paying £10m fines in Britain (Daily Telegraph, 29 June 2008)

FoI in Australia: Dept of Immigration criticised over its handling of FoI requests

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has released a damning report on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's handling of freedom-of-information requests over the past three years.

The report, triggered by a surge in complaints in 2005, found the department breached the 30-day statutory deadline in responding to requests in four of 10 cases last year, and blocked requests for personal information by unnecessarily using the FoI Act.

This contributed to a "significant" backlog of cases, the oldest open for two years, the Department Of Immigration And Citizenship: Timeliness Of Decision Making Under The Freedom Of Information Act 1982 report said.

"FoI delays can disadvantage members of the public who need official documents in order to access other legal rights," said John McMillan, the Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman behind the report. "Delay also undermines the open government objective of the FoI Act."

Immigration delays attacked (Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2008)

High level of informal resolution of complaints by ICO raises questions

Fewer than one in 20 complaints made to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) about central Government departments led to a formal ruling to disclose information under the FOI Act.

This was one finding of Press Gazette research into complaints made about Freedom of Information requests to central Government departments.

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice, which were responsible for introducing the Act, received more complaints than any other department, getting 155 and 148 complaints respectively. The Department for Transport had the highest proportion of formal decision notices issued against it, at 8.7 per cent.

The ICO handles complaints from the public on how well public bodies handle requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, and has powers to force public authorities to disclose information. However, it has only issued formal notices on 4.4 per cent of complaints against central bodies.

Half of all complaints were either still awaiting decision or dismissed. One in three were resolved informally, while a further 4.7 per cent were formally resolved in the public authority’s favour, with a similar ratio partially upheld.

Freedom of Information campaigner Heather Brooke said the findings showed it was time for the Information Commissioner to come under the direct control of Parliament.

“By resolving so many complaints informally, the Commissioner has abdicated his responsibility to set important case law in the area of Freedom of Information,” she said.

“That so few rulings favour the public shows why the Commissioner should be accountable directly to Parliament and not Government, as there seems to be a clear bias in favour of his paymaster.”

Number of FOI complaints upheld prompt bias fear (Press Gazette, 23 June 2008)

Freedom of information can be inconvenient - for the government

New figures reveal that the chances of getting an answer under the new right-to-know law depend on which government department deals with the request, reports Robert Verkaik, Law Editor of the Independent.

Gordon Brown said in his speech on liberty last October that "Freedom of Information can be inconvenient, at times frustrating and indeed embarrassing for governments. But Freedom of Information is the right course because government belongs to the people, not the politicians."

This week the Ministry of Justice published its annual report on the workings of the Act for last year. It showed that central government received 16,903 requests and that a similar number were dealt with by public bodies.

Of greater significance was the figures for the success rates of requests made to government. These showed that across all departments last year, a third of requests were rejected in part or in full. The department with the worst record was the office of the Attorney General, where only 23 per cent of demands for information were met in full, while the best performer was the Department of Work and Pensions which answered nearly 90 per cent.

What this annual report does not tell us is what the satisfaction rate was among those members of the public who were told their request was unresolvable or even for those whose requests are said to have been granted in full.

The bitter experience for many who use the legislation is that the process rarely ends in complete satisfaction. This is partly because of the time taken to respond to requests. This week's report revealed that 16 per cent – more than 5,000 requests – were taking more than the stipulated 20 days to process that is required by the Act. And of the 620 requests which went to internal review within the departments, 19 per cent took more than 60 days to process.

Freedom Of Information: A third of all Freedom of Information requests rejected (The Independent, 20 June 2008)

Not so open society - 20% of FoI requests turned down by Government

The Freedom of Information Act, which came into force in January 2005, applies to more than 100,000 public bodies across the UK.

Last year figures from the Ministry of Justice show that central Government bodies received more than 32,000 different requests for information.

However 20 per cent - nearly 7,000 requests - were turned down point blank by officials. Less than two thirds of the requests - 63 per cent - were classed as fully "resolvable".

The annual report on the FOI Act in central Government also revealed that 16 per cent - more than 5,000 requests - were taking more than the specified 20 days to process. Of the 620 requests which went to internal review within the departments, 19 per cent took more than 60 days to process.

Maurice Franckel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: "This reflects the delays that some requesters are still experiencing before they receive a firm answer.

The Liberal Democrats said it was difficult to see how so many requests can be turned down in an era of free information.

One in five Freedom Of Information requests turned down by Government (Daily Telegraph, 18 June 2008)

Police disappointed with Commissioner's decision to release information

Northern Constabulary’s top officer is considering costly court action after being ordered to publish the names of colleagues who were working at Wick police station over three months in 1997 – around the time of a young man’s death.

Chief Constable Ian Latimer has repeatedly refused to release their names when they were requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

He claimed releasing the personal details of 29 officers could put them at risk. But yesterday Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion, said the evidence presented to him by the police was not enough to conclude that the information “would, or would be likely to, endanger the safety of any officer”.

Last night a force spokeswoman said it was “disappointed” by the decision and refused to rule out appealing to the Court of Session, which could prove very costly to taxpayers.

Police may go to court in row over Wick man’s death: information commissioner orders naming of officers working at the time (Press and Journal, 18 June 2008)

FoI in the USA: White House Office not subject to FoI Act

The White House Office of Administration is not required to turn over records about a trove of possibly missing e-mails, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found the agency does not have "substantial independent authority" so it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The decision means the White House does not have to disclose documents relating to its troubled e-mail system. That system developed problems that may have caused millions of White House e-mails to be unaccounted for.

The watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had sued under FOIA. The group expressed disappointment in the ruling and said it is appealing the decision.

White House office wins ruling on e-mail records (CNN, 16 June 2008)

Social workers suffering stress and anxiety

One in five of the country's 76,000 social workers has signed off work for 20 consecutive days or more in the past five years because of conditions such as stress or anxiety.

Research carried out by the Conservative party, using figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from local authorities across England, show that as many as 15,550 social workers took long-term sick leave. The rate is one of the highest for any profession and double that of teachers. Meanwhile, stress-related claims by social workers cost the taxpayer £13m last year.

Social workers buckling under stress burden (The Observer, 15 June 2008)

A more open society is required as Information Commissioner calls for greater disclosure

The dawn of the Freedom of Information age was supposed to bring a shift in government attitudes to secrecy. So why, asks Robert Verkaik, Law Editor, has the Information Commissioner made a call for greater disclosure?

Nearly 10,000 leaders of public bodies in England and Wales have been told they must help make Britain a more open society by releasing a greater amount of information to the public.

The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has written to all chief executives of local authorities, NHS trusts, police agencies and thousands of other organisations, urging them to disclose a range of information "as a matter of routine".

The decision to embark upon such a broad offensive is partly driven by the new Freedom of Information publication schemes which public bodies must have in place by the end of this year. But it will also serve as a timely reminder that three years after the introduction of the right-to-know laws in England and Wales, obfuscation and political censorship still present a huge obstacle to a truly open society.

More than a third of all requests to government departments and public bodies are refused in part or in whole and around a half of complaints concerning failed requests are upheld by the Information Commissioner.

This month, Mr Thomas told a Freedom of Information conference in London that public authorities must do more to disclose more information in a proactive way and eradicate unnecessary secrecy.

After a cut in resources in 2007/08, the ICO's FOI funding has now increased again to £5.5m – the same level that was set in 2006/07. Mr Thomas hopes that the new funding will enable the ICO to continue to close more cases than it receives each month.

But without more money and more case officers to handle the most difficult cases, the spirit of the legislation is not being met. Some of the hardest cases, dealing with public complaints about refusals to release information on a range of issues, including the security costs for the Royal Family and documents relating to cabinet minutes, have waiting times of nearly two years.

Unless this backlog can be reduced quickly, the public will lose faith in its information watchdog.

Freedom Of Information: Watchdog targets government and public institutions (The Independent, 13 June 2008)

QC in MPs' expenses claim questioned

James Goudie, QC, of 11 KBW, acted for the Information Commissioner in the High Court case relating to the expenses claims of 14 prominent past and present MPs, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

The High Court ruled in favour of the commissioner and the details have now been disclosed to the campaigner and journalists who requested them under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Times interviews Goudie, asking what were the main challenges in that case and its implications.

Lawyer of the Week: James Goudie, QC (The Times, 12 June 2008)

ICO upholds Councils' decision to withhold information relating to exclusions from schools

The Information Commissioner’s Office has upheld decisions made by three Welsh councils that details relating to the number of exclusions from named schools in the region should not be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The ruling by the ICO follows requests to Cardiff, Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf councils for the number of pupils excluded from named schools following drug finds during 2004-05 and 2005-06.

The requester was provided with the number of exclusions as a result of drug finds across the boroughs.

But, in all cases, the local authorities argued disclosing the number of exclusions in relation to particular schools would breach the Data Protection Act because the information could be used to identify a living individual.

The ICO agrees with the authorities’ views that the disclosure of the personal information about an identifiable young person who has been excluded from school would be unfair and would therefore be in breach of the Data Protection Act.

Councils’ decision to withhold information upheld (Western Mail, 11 June 2008)

Aberdeenshire Council FoI blunder - again

Council bosses were forced to apologise after it emerged that figures released by the authority in response to a freedom of information request were dramatically wide of the mark. Aberdeenshire Council had been asked to provide details of the amount spent on agency and temporary workers in the last financial year.

The GMB union needed the figures for a dossier on similar spending by all the local authorities in the UK. Aberdeenshire Council, after weeks of researching the amount, came up with a figure of just over £27.3million.

It prompted union leaders to hit out at a “horrific abuse of the public purse” and left councillors scratching their heads, pondering why the amount was so high — more than that spent by Edinburgh and just under Glasgow’s total. But yesterday — a day after the figures were released by the GMB — Aberdeenshire Council admitted it had got its figures wrong.

The total spend for 2006-07 was actually just over £4million — meaning Aberdeenshire should not have featured in the GMB’s top 10 rundown of Scottish local authorities.

Aberdeen City Council made a similar blunder earlier this year when it said — also in response to a freedom of information question — that it had spent £29.7million on outside consultants over three years.

It later emerged that the council had used the wrong definition of consultants, and that the real figure was £1.688million.

Red-faced council got sums wrong: Local authority forced to apologise after giving the incorrect information to union (Press and Journal, 10 June 2008)

FoI in Australia - Radical overhaul of FoI laws needed

A new report has proposed a radical overhaul of freedom of information (FOI) laws giving Queensland one of the most open and accountable governments in the world.

Former journalist David Solomon was selected to conduct the independent inquiry in September last year, just days after Premier Anna Bligh was sworn in promising a more open and accountable government.

Dr Solomon today released his 415-page report, making 141 recommendations, including a proposal to change the provision that exempts a large range of documents from FOI for 30 years because they have gone before cabinet.

It proposes reducing the 30-year rule to 10 years, and three years for ministerial briefs, estimates briefs and question time briefs, subject to a possible extension of time on public interest grounds.

The report notes a FOI culture of "anxiety, even hostility'' in Queensland, and urges the government to adopt a "push'' model - putting information in the public arena - rather than waiting for people to "pull'' it free.Dr Solomon said the proposed system would make Queensland one of the world's most open governments.

Report recommends FOI overhaul (Brisbane Times, 10 June 2008)

FoI in Australia: House owners threatened with eviction notices

The housing market slump has hit Australia, with banks and other lenders using strong arm tactics to scare homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage repayments - by threatening to throw them out on the street.

The mortgage finance sector won 4000 writs of possession in the New South Wales Supreme Court last year, giving them the right to repossess properties of customers behind on loan repayments.

But after putting those homeowners through the stress of believing they could become homeless, almost 2500 were able to save their houses from being lost at fire sales across Sydney.

An analysis of 4000 writs of possession issued in 2007, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, revealed only 1580 of the writs were executed.

Eviction threats scare homeowners (news.com.au, 7 June 2008)

FoI not adequate in holding governments accountable for environmental decisions

While many national governments have made real progress in honoring their 1992 Rio Earth Summit commitments to better include the public in environmental decisions, a new book released in conjunction with World Environment Day concludes that all the countries studied have fallen short in some aspect.

“Access to information is essential, but in order to act on the information they get, people need to be able to participate in a fair and open process,” said Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which produced the book.

"Voice and Choice: Opening the Door to Environmental Democracy" is based on reviews of national law and compiles findings from more than 200 case studies in 26 countries.

Governments - simply by improving public participation - could have more successfully managed or prevented unhealthy levels of lead in Washington, D.C. drinking water; spills of sulphuric acid and petroleum in Chile; and the disposal of hazardous military waste in Bulgaria, to name just three examples.

The book identifies innovative solutions being tested around the world to improve public participation, including Mexico’s cabinet-level agency to handle freedom of information requests, public environmental education in South Africa, and training of judges in Indonesia.

“Without meaningful public participation and access to justice, freedom of information alone does not enable the public to hold governments accountable for decisions affecting the environment,” said Joseph Foti, associate at WRI and lead author of Voice and Choice.

The authors recommend that governments must take more active steps to involve the public in decision-making. Additional recommendations include building and strengthening programs to help the public demand and use opportunities for public participation.

Freedom of information not enough to hold governments accountable on environment (Environmental-expert.com, 6 June 2008)

Guantanamo Bay: FoI used by lawyers to disclose Foreign Office memos

Binyam Mohamed has been held without trial by the US for six years. Now his lawyers have asked the UK to disclose what it knows about his fate.

The Independent reports that British diplomats have been working behind the scenes to secure the release of Binyam Mohamed, a UK resident, who claims to have been tortured during his six-year detention by the United States, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Internal Foreign Office memos note that "more robust evidence" to support the torture allegations made by Mr Mohamed may emerge and that Britain should write to the US urging them to investigate the claims.

Mr Mohamed's lawyers have now contacted the Military Commission's headquarters in Washington informing the senior judge of this development in a bid to halt Mr Mohamed's forthcoming trial at a Military Commission in Guantanamo Bay, where he is still being held.

Freedom Of Information: Guantanamo Briton uses Freedom of Information law (The Independent, 6 June 2008)

Should the 30-year rule of disclosure be dispensed with?

Public access to sensitive government information after the end of the Second World War has been controlled by first the 50-year rule and, since 1967, the 30-year rule of disclosure.

Robert Verkaik, Law Editor of the Independent writes: "While much of the material released to the National Archives under this regime has been of interest to historians, very little has been of any use to those who want, or need, to know the business of the government of the day. So it is very welcome that Gordon Brown has decided to consider proposals for a less restrictive set of rules for placing important government information in the public domain."

Brown has asked Paul Dacre, Editor-in-Chief of Associated Newspapers and member of the Press Complaints Commission, to lead a review team responsible for coming up with suggestions for prioritising the release of documents that wouldn't normally see the light of day for at least 30 years.

Verkaik is of the view that "such a move was inevitable after the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which granted a general right of disclosure to the public at any time. What Mr Dacre and his team must do is find new ways of releasing information that is no longer nationally or personally sensitive. "

"It is clear that ministers and their Whitehall advisers will put up a fight. Many Freedom of Information requests are routinely blocked as part of a defensive strategy aimed at reducing the reach of the new right-to-know law. But in the last year the Government and Parliament have lost a series of key battles."

"The Information Commissioner and the Information Tribunal have made it clear that harmless information that has been refused disclosure on political grounds should not remain secret."

Freedom Of Information: The time has come to end the 30-year rule of disclosure (The Independent, 30 May 2008)

Information Act has become a hindrance

Giles Roca, interim head of media and marketing at Essex County Council, writes: "There is no doubt that a genuine attempt at increasing transparency and access to government lay behind the introduction of the Act. However, questions over its use and interpretation are growing louder and ever more frequent."

He questions the cost to the taxpayer of having to respond to trivial and non-sensical questions, such as the cost of the consumption of bottled water and biscuits, or the request to one of the Council's members who, sharing her name with the US songstress Tracy Chapman, was asked whether she 'drove a fast car'.

"The average request takes 10 hours to process and costs £25 an hour in admin - far greater than the stipulated financial limits. It also diverts huge amounts of time and resource away from day jobs. One authority recently estimated the cost of processing all of the FOI requests submitted by the TayPayers' Alliance for one of its reports at around £110,000. The irony in this case is not lost. But, as we all know, democracy does not come cheap."

"The Act, of course, has a particular challenge for public sector comms professionals. How to reconcile conforming to what is after all the law, knowing full well that the results will, in all likelihood, be taken out of context and used in a less than flattering manner."

Information Act has become a hindrance (PR Week, 29 May 2008)

FoI reveals mortality rates of cardiothoracic surgeons

Using Freedom of Information legislation, the Guardian has persuaded surgeons to disclose information about their death rates.

When the Freedom of Information Act came into force in 2005, the newspaper applied for the mortality scores of cardiothoracic surgeons who performed heart bypass operations at 36 NHS trusts across Britain.

Heart surgery had been the focus of much debate after a scandal at the Bristol Royal Infirmary where 29 babies died because nobody was aware that its consultants had mortality rates well above the average.

An inquiry under Sir Ian Kennedy, now chairman of the Healthcare Commission, recommended regular publication of the data so nothing similar could happen again. In 2002, Alan Milburn, then health secretary, secured a commitment from the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons to make available the risk-adjusted mortality scores of all its members.

The risk adjustment was designed to ensure that surgeons did not turn down difficult cases for fear of spoiling their averages. The society promised to publish the data by 2004, but failed to meet its deadline. So the Guardian encouraged them into action by using the FOI Act to expose their raw mortality rates.

The Guardian's application caused apoplexy among surgeons, who phoned the newspaper to accuse them of wanting to kill people. They said consultants would become more risk averse, leaving patients to die who could have been saved by surgery.

The Guardian published the information, using risk-adjusted figures for NHS trusts that had them available and raw scored for those that did not.

The newspaper reports that "the sky did not fall in on the heart surgeons". Two years ago, the data went up on the Healthcare Commission's website, including mortality rates for all trusts and more than three-quarters of the individual surgeons.

There was an important postscript to the Guardian's freedom of information application in 2005. When the replies came in from the trusts, we found glaring errors in the return from St Mary's teaching hospital in Paddington.

It attributed a clutch of deaths to a consultant who was absent at the time on a lengthy sabbatical and could not have been held responsible. We made the evidence available to the Healthcare Commission.

As a result, the hospital called in Sir Bruce Keogh, then president of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, to investigate. His confidential report, obtained by the Guardian, found facilities for heart patients at St Mary's were "almost certainly the worst in the country."

His report concluded: "There is a clear failure of teamwork within the cardiothoracic unit, which, when coupled with the poor facilities, staffing practices and inadequate medical cover of the fast-track [recovery] unit, poses a serious clinical risk."

In this case at least, freedom of information did not cost lives. By exposing problems, it may have saved them.

NHS death rates: freedom of information may have saved lives (The Guardian, 29 May 2008)

Report reveals tensions between jail staff and Muslim prisoners

A Prison Service report has expressed concern about problems with the high number of Muslim inmates at one of Britain's high-security jails.

A review of Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire found staff were fearful of doing the wrong thing, "shifting the power dynamic towards prisoners".

The Howard League for Penal Reform said the report was "extremely disturbing".

The report, written by the Prison Service's Directorate of High Security, was obtained by the Howard League under the Freedom of Information Act.

It found staff at Whitemoor Prison near March, Cambridgeshire, "appeared reluctant to challenge inappropriate behaviour, in particular among black and minority ethnic prisoners, for fear of doing the wrong thing".

The report said there was an "ongoing theme of fear and instability" around the prison and many staff believed a "serious incident" was imminent.

It said the "very high Muslim population" - more than one in four of the 500 inmates - appeared to be "leading to anxiety and apprehension among some staff".

Jail staff 'fear Muslim inmates' (BBC News, 25 May 2008)

Dead patients live to tell the tale

Patients in five English hospitals have been incorrectly diagnosed as being dead over the past five years, the BBC has discovered.

The information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Donal MacIntyre programme.