The Head of Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit has said:
‘The one new website worth mentioning would be Your right to know (http://www.yrtk.org).’

http://www.aukml.org.uk/deaddec04.htm

An intersting article in the Eastern Daily Press, a regional newspaper in Norfolk, highlights how some public authorities are charging as much as 50p a page for photocopying under the FOIA. Guidance issued by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, last month said that in most cases, photocopying and printing would be expected to cost no more than 10p per sheet of paper.

But the newspaper found the most expensive council in the region – West Norfolk – is charging five times that. Its 50p per photocopy charge is 10 times the cost of the cheapest councils locally, with both South Norfolk Council and Norfolk County Council charging 5p a page. South Norfolk says it will waive charges of less than £25 – up to 499 A4 pages at their 5p rate.

I will be naming and shaming the greediest public authorities in the country, so please send me news about charges you’re asked to pay.

Freedom of information – at a price
28 January 2005
Eastern Daily Press (Cambridge & Norfolk)

Hidden charges in new freedom of information laws have created a postcode lottery that could see councils charge up to £250 for information that would be free from another authority.

An EDP investigation has found a loophole in the law means public bodies can choose to levy hefty bills for answering questions that are supposed to be dealt with for free.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, which came into force this month, thousands of public bodies have a new obligation to answer questions posed by the public.

The law forbids them from charging for staff time unless they have to spend more than two and a half days trawling through records.

But councils, police, health authorities and others are allowed to charge for photocopying and postage costs, meaning requests might be anything but free.

Read the full article here.

An article in the Financial Times January 24, 2005 broke down the number of FOIA requests received by central government in the first weeks of the new law. Informal reports indicated that 900 requests had come into central government in the first week, according to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which oversees the FoI regime. One of the most common requests was for the attorney general’s advice on the legality of war in Iraq (almost 40 requests).

• Ministry of Defense and its agencies – 443 requests to date
• Cabinet Office – 268
• Department for Education and Skills – 92
• Department of Health – 80 in first week, not know how many to date.
• HM Treasury – 40 requests in the first week.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – “more than 50 but less than 100″
• Department of Transport – 84 requests, with another 40 for agencies under its jurisdiction.
• Department of Trade and Industry – 72 requests, 60 in the first week
• Department for Constitutional Affairs – 82 queries
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport – 79
• Home Office and Foreign Office refused to disclose the number of requests!

MoD targeted for freedom of information queries
By Bob Sherwood and Jennifer Baskerville
Financial Times
Published: January 24 2005 02:00

This is an edited version. Click on the link above to read the full article.

The Ministry of Defence has been the target of more freedom of information requests than any other government department, reflecting concerns over Iraq.

But a Financial Times survey shows the predicted deluge of FoI requests in the first weeks of the new openness regime has failed to materialise, suggesting that business and the public have yet to wake up to the opportunities offered by the legislation.

The spirit of openness has not reached all government departments, though: both the Home Office and Foreign Office refused to disclose even the number of FoI requests they had received. The Home Office said it would not provide a “running commentary” on freedom of information.

The MoD and its agencies received 443 requests so far, according to the latest figures supplied by central government departments.
(more…)

An article in yesterday’s Guardian lists those public authorities proactively making information available to the public online.

Moment of truth
Thursday January 27, 2005
The Guardian
The web is now the place to find out about government. Michael Cross uncovers the sites making the most of the Freedom of Information Act

Campaigner Heather Brooke, author of Your Right to Know (www.yrtk.org), says authorities generally need prodding to post information on the web. “There are only a few examples of people pro-actively publishing new things. There’s definitely scope for people to stop being so paranoid and more open.”

Read the full article here.