Gov設法制約信息請求自由
其中一2007年的政治奧秘是為什麼部長倉促地撤出了他們的威脅到遏制請求在行動之下。 羅伯特Verkaik，法律編輯，認為他知道為什麼
它是習慣的在這個季度看在過去12個月複評塑造了政治風景的關鍵片刻。 在信息權利領域它是強迫政府的爭鬥取消計劃制約站立的它自己的立法。
在年之交，政府力量，帶領由Thoroton的Falconer，然後大法官閣下，看上去堅定按向前以從使將停止媒介和競選小組昂貴和令人困窘要求信息的新的規則。 在中間春天以前有強烈十字架黨反對到計劃，但以鷹狩獵者和他的大臣同事沒有顯示胃口為妥協。 另一方面，但傑克秸桿，新的正義秘書，似乎丟失他的意志為戰鬥。 在10月前整體辯論在它的頭被轉動了，與Gordon Brown建議信息法律自由可能被擴大蓋一些私有企業。
新的文件被發表在信息行動之下自由現在提供更加清楚的理解對為什麼政府膽怯。
對它去年被發表的自己的咨詢論文的反應包括提議從顯示自己是較不比熱心的對「毯子族聚」想法的FOI官員，藉以一個財政蓋帽在依從可能花個體做的FOI請求上從同一個組織內部的金額將被投入。
例如，健康的部門寫道： 「我們考慮聚集可能不是合理的申請人清楚地作為輸送管道到一個大組織的地方，并且拒绝將導致多個與非相關的請求跟隨從無數請求者」。 部門也是溫熱在介紹「簡便計算表的」問題幫助計算官員採取的時間考慮信息請求自由。 它補充說：
DH考慮章程是足够規定的作為教導一部分，但歡迎顯示或例子而不是「簡便計算表」。 A “ready reckoner” could be overly rigid and not take account of the complexity of some documentation that may have to be examined carefully.
The Serious Fraud Office also had concerns: “The aggregation provision is potentially problematic,” its response stated.
It is proposed to aggregate requests made by a person or persons, who may be acting in concert for the purpose of calculating the appropriate limit. This will be difficult to implement. Anyone can submit a request via e-mail and it would be very difficult to assess whether different identities are being used or whether individuals are collaborating to acquire information.
Government agencies were even less enthusiastic. In its detailed response, Transport for London noted that the consultation paper did not present any evidence that “burdensome FOI requests are a significant or extensive problem outside of central government”.
It added:
TfL does not consider that it incurs unacceptable costs in responding to over 1,000 FOI requests a year, including a significant proportion that are complex. An alternative . . . might have been to develop proposals that would have implemented a revised fees regime for central government only.
And on the issue of aggregation it said: “We consider that the existing Fees Regulations are adequate in this regard and in general multiple unrelated requests from individual applicants, or different applicants in a single organisation, have not imposed an unacceptable burden on TfL.” Such unexpected opposition to its plans must have given the Government plenty of reason to beat a hasty retreat.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article3249843.ece
Have Your Say: Gov tries to restrict Freedom of Information requests
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This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 1:13 am and is filed under Breaking News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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