Freedom of Information
When I did an FoI request to DoH they were evasive, took ages and went to appeal, When they finally sent an answer, it was in an unreadable or corrupt format. I've had similar problems with Cabinet Office and COI
Wibbi central government responses to FoI requests were as prompt, straightforward and courteous as the best of local government ones, like this for example:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/whatdotheyknow_complaints_at_foi
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Responses
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Fred notes: I too have been a victim of interminable battles to get even simple material under FoI. Some Departments clearly operate a policy of making the process so difficult and drawn out, they assume you will just give up. I went through 5 iterations of "your request is too wide, so we can refuse under the rules regarding cost" - each one of which went right up to the time deadline for them to respond. Not once did THEY suggest how my request might actually be modified to get a result (despite my suggestion on 4 occasions fthat they do just that). Doubtless an official congratulated himself when, 6 months after my original request, they were able to say there was nothing which met my request, and not bound by superior commercial confidentiality provisions. Sadly, FoI will surely go down in history as one of the biggest failures of the (then) new Labour government to deliver on its election promises. FoI was trumpeted as the opening up of government workings to citizens; and an end of secrecy and lack of transparency. The FoI strategy initially cited experiences elsewhere (eg Canada), that after the initial trauma, both the public sector itself and citizens achieved enormous benefits, and democracy was enhanced. Instead, we have in general (with a few notable exceptions...and Scotland seems much better) seen departments become ever more paranoid that FoI disclosures might do them harm; so obfuscation, denial, hiding behind "confidentiality" issues and high costs of compliance... and complex legal challenges, are used to refuse requests. The only thing worse than NOT having a proper FoI regime is, surely, having an FoI regime in principle, but which is not followed in practice. Perhaps one of the most notable (and damaging to democracy) denials of FoI has been from MPs themselves, many of whom actually believed that they were specifically EXCLUDED from FoI provisions... In many respects, it was easier to get info from Departments BEFORE FoI was introduced. Now they have a formal process that allows them to deny access to even simple material.
written 16th April 2009 | abusive?