The Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act became operational in 2006 after being drawn up in 2000 – no doubt to give certain organisations time to ‘lose’ certain information in that six years!
It applies to the availability of information in the public sector, allowing the public to get hold of such information or documents.

The Act states that ‘any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to a) be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request and b) if that is the case, to have the information communicated to them.’

A large part of the Act, however, is taken up with exemptions; particularly regarding national secrets, security and military operations.

One problem of the Act is the definition of the information itself. Information can only be requested if it has been recorded down and this has led to the practise of ‘sofa government’ where leading figures of government or organisations discuss certain matters more informally and avoid recording the meetings.
Confidentiality is another hurdle – many organisations can refuse information regarding a specific person.
One further obstacle is the Cost of Complying, whereby if the information is too expensive for an organisation to gather it, even if they do have it, a request can be refused. An average amount considered to be too much is around £600 though it varies on the organisation.

Every organisation is required to have a designated Freedom of Information Officer. If a request is rejected however, you can appeal to a Information Commissioner who can adjust whether your FOI application should be granted.

Although appealing for information via the FOI can be very bureaucratic it seems to me to favour the journalist as long as they’re prepared to fill out the paperwork, be forceful in their demand and not take no for an answer.