18.08.14
Here be dragons
There have been stories over the past few days of the outrageous and amusing freedom of information requests some councils have had to tackle.
The LGA media team know that they are doing – a press release drily quoting the statistics on the number of freedom of information requests officers have to deal with would not have got much interest. But dragon attacks, you say? Pet exorcisms? Guaranteed clicks and column inches.
Fortunately the LGA has not used this as an excuse to attack freedom of information laws more generally, or try to start a debate about scaling back the law. But it is a way of subtly undermining support for the law, framing it as expensive, wasteful and frivolous, even while stressing councils’ overall transparency.
It is sometimes forgotten just how radical freedom of information was when it was passed in 2000 and came into full force from 2005.
Tony Blair now sees it as a mistake, but used well, it can help hold public bodies to account. Joke requests, journalists’ ‘fishing expeditions’ and businesses trying to use it for commercial reasons are all problematic in their own way, but they should not affect the basic soundness of the legislation.
Transparency improves policy, ensures accountability, and is an end in its own right.
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