Government rebuffs Committee’s recommendations for increased FOI transparency

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee has expressed disappointment at the Government's response to the recommendations it made for its handling of Freedom of Information Act requests.

The committee's review of the Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House led to a number of recommendations, including a call for increased transparency and a cultural shift from "mere baseline compliance with the Freedom of Information Act to a greater advocacy for [its] core principles and tenets".

The Government's response mainly rebuffed the recommendations in the committee's report.

On the recommendation for greater transparency, the Government's said its present view is "that creating statistics on the number of cases referred to be published on a quarterly basis would be a disproportionate use of resources for a de minimis function".

The Government also rejected the call to accept the Information Commissioner's offer to undertake its proposed audit. The Government said an internal rather than external review was more appropriate.

The committee's response also notes the Government has "no plans" to revisit the decision to exempt the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) from the FOI Act, a move which the committee said was concerning.

Chair of PACAC William Wragg MP said: "Our inquiry heard significant concerns that the Cabinet Office was not transparent with its handling of FOI requests.

"That is why we asked for more data to be published and called for an independent audit of its practices.

"It is disappointing that today's government response rejects our recommendations."

Mr Wragg added: "We still have concerns that the Cabinet Office's refusal to open up to an audit by the regulator sets a poor example for the rest of Whitehall and will mean suspicions of FOI mismanagement will persist.

"The internal review set up by the Government risks providing little comfort to many we heard from who have already lost trust in the system."

Adam Carey