Government’s refusal of FOI requests at its peak

As FOIA celebrates its fifth anniversary, legal information provider Sweet.

& Maxwell published Freedom of Information Manual which revealed that in the.

last quarter of 2009, 22% of requests for information under the FOIA were.

refused as compared to 18% in 2005 when the Act first came into force..

The report found that the cabinet office withheld as much as 51% of formal.

information requests. The FOI to obtain information on MPs expenses was first.

submitted in January 2005 and it took more than four years before the.

information was disclosed..

One of the main reasons given for withholding information, as in MPs expenses.

saga, is it contains personal details. Experts called it a “bit of a catch-all.

excuse”..

In addition, it found that HMRC and OFT refused 45% , MoJ refused 44% and HM.

Treasury refused up to 32% of FOIA requests. In all, 6,334 requests for.

information were withheld in the last 12 months..

Besides, the percentage of requests which did not receive a proper response.

in the 20-day deadline rose from 16% to 18% over the last year..

Marcus Turle, author of the Manual, said: “Government departments still have.

a deeply rooted ‘need to know’ culture and are struggling to come to terms with.

the ‘right to know’ principle enshrined in the FOIA.”.

Turle, also a partner at commercial law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, said:.

“Public sector bodies are increasingly refusing to disclose information or.

dragging their feet over dealing with requests as a way of managing their.

reputations. There is a feeling within some public sector bodies that.

information on their poor performance which is disclosed is too often used as a.

stick to beat them with, which is reinforcing this reluctance.”.

“What’s worrying is that public sector bodies are actually getting worse at.

dealing with requests when you would expect them to be improving their.

performance. The Act has been in force five years now. Rather than becoming.

faster and more open in dealing with requests, the trend is going in the.

opposite direction.”.

Part of the problem is that there are no penalties if public sector bodies.

withhold information unjustifiably or fail to disclose information within the.

20-day deadline..

“There is very little disincentive for public sector bodies not to comply.

with the spirit of the Act. They cannot be fined for withholding or taking too.

much time to disclose information just because it might be embarrassing to them..

Too many perfectly valid requests are taking years to process and all too.

frequently by the time the information is obtained it is out of date.”.

According to Sweet & Maxwell, the performance of some government bodies.

differed radically from others in Q3 09. For instance, the Ministry of Defence.

only refused 8% of requests in the same period. Other government bodies least.

likely to hold information include HM Land Registry at 3%, Scotland Office at.

4%, Treasury Solicitor’s Department at 6% and the Department of Health at 9%..

“If the MoD, which has a reputation for secrecy and could justifiably.

withhold information on national security grounds, only refuses 8% of requests.

you have to wonder whether departments like HMRC are withholding information on.

legitimate grounds.”

Taken from here