BBC World Service series about FOI
Over seventy countries across the world now have freedom of information laws, covering over half the world´s population and promising them the right to know more about what their governments are doing.
But how much difference do these laws make in practice? Who really uses them, or even cares about them? And what happens when the backlash strikes?
These are some of the questions considered in a BBC World Service two-part documentary series, The Right to Know, which starts today. (I produced it, and you can see a picture of some of the participants on the website of Marta Oyhanarte, the under-secretary for institutional reform in the Argentinian government.)
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Perhaps I am a cynic but it seems that all these laws do is ensure that the State concerned will ensure they destroy documents or remove evidence, or simply deny it exists.
Its like a lot of privacy laws, they simply make the eavesdroppers harder to spot or ensure they are more careful to conceal or destroy the evidence.
Everything still depends, as it always has on the goodwill of those who make up the state and their complying with the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
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Its like a lot of privacy laws, they simply make the eavesdroppers harder to spot or ensure they are more careful to conceal or destroy the evidence.
Even Aunty Beeb is guilty of this, see Guido's blog.
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May I make a general comment on the FoI Act. Unlike the Republic of Ireland which introduced similar legislation from a current date the UK law was retrospective. I was a Civil Servant for 35 years and little knew that during most of that time my views and opinions would be scrutinised twenty years on.
If I were still in service I would not be as forthcoming on paper as I was in the past. This is not to suggest that I would be part of the legendary "Government cover up" but rather I would not feel as free to give robust advice. Future historians will be deprived of many interesting insights by the FoI Act.
Recently I asked a question of a Government Department. In my time this would have been answered without any fuss. However I got a reply from a FoI manager" and with hints at costs involved. The result: the eventual answer was delayed and what would have been free twenty years ago was now at a cost.
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Martin:
That is good that the world is having freedom of information rules
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As an FOI officer in a public authority, I'd just like to respond to lifegrumpy64's comments.
He writes that he "would not feel as free to give robust advice" if the Act had been around during his time in the civil service. I have, myself, noticed a change in the way staff in my public authority record things in the last couple of years. I'm not suggesting that any of them are being deceptive or anything, but I think a lot of people are certainly a little more 'cautious' before putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).
It's also funny how a lot of public authorities automatically treat any question as an official FOI request, rather than just responding 'business as usual'. I actually emailed my local council a few weeks back to ask about the revised bin collection dates due to the local government strike action, and shortly after clicking 'send' I got a response informing me that my request for information would be dealt with in accordance with the Act, and that I should expect my response no later than the 20th working day, yadda yadda. Ludicrous.
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It seems to me that we are arguing the wrong thing. The question should be "why do we need freedom of information requests at all?"
This is supposed to be a political system where the people govern through their representatives. The reality is that a group of lusting plutocrats run the game for themselves at the expense of the common people.
We should have full transparency in this government.
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