Most information will be released for free, says Falconer
The Constitutional Affairs Secretary has said that the majority of requests received under the Freedom of Information Act will answered for free.
The Freedom of Information Act comes into force on January 1st 2005, just 74 days away. The Act will allow any member of the public to enquire what information public authorities hold on an issue, and request the release of that information. There will, however, be certain exceptions, for example on national security grounds.
Campaigners have been critical that, with the implementation date of the 2000 Act fast approaching, there was no clear pricing structure available for request.
Speaking on Monday, Lord Falconer said that information which costs public bodies less than £450 to retrieve and collate will be free, a threshold which rises to £600 for information held by central government departments.
Public authorities will be able to charge the “full cost” of administrative processes such as copying, printing and postage.
Announcing the regulations at the Society of Editors’ annual conference in Newcastle, Lord Falconer, said: “This Government introduced the legislation to change the culture of official information, and we believe it should be free. A fees structure which is simple to understand and easy to operate follows the spirit of the legislation.
“We don’t want cost to deter people from asking about the policy discussions which influence their children’s education, the way hospitals treat and care for their parents or the way police patrol their neighbourhoods.”
“We have always maintained that the majority of costs arising from this legislation should be met by the public purse. But authorities will have the option either to charge the full cost of the more complicated and time-consuming requests which take longer to research and edit, or to not carry them out on cost grounds.”
