FOI is ‘for the public not press’
The Freedom of Information Act is “mainly for the public”, the lord chancellor will say later today.
Lord Falconer will criticise the number of requests for “trivial” information lodged by the press, saying the “people not the press must be the priority”.
Delivering the Lord Williams of Mostyn memorial lecture tonight, the lord chancellor will argue openness hinges on the public’s right to know, not the media’s right to provide information.
“There is a right to know, not a right to tell,” he is expected to say.
Nevertheless, Lord Falconer will insist the government remains fully committed to transparency and praise the legislation, claiming Whitehall was insufficiently open before 1997.
But he will insist government wants openness for a purpose and the greater public benefit.
The act has given the public access to information held by more than 100,000 public authorities. The lord chancellor is currently looking into how it can be enhanced, including the implications for coroner’s courts, data sharing and protection and fees for accessing information.
Last year, the Department for Constitutional Affairs revealed requests for information were costing the government £24.4 million a year and public authorities a further £11.1 million.
Requests can be denied for a number of reasons, including if releasing the information risks the interests of the UK or if the information was used in policy formulation. Ministers also have a veto.
