Lord Falconer has been accused of relaxing rules forcing 100,000 public authorities to give prompt replies when the new Freedom of Information Act comes into force.

The changes were revealed when the lord chancellor published the new code of practice for public officials on how to handle inquiries from the public and press.

Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said the changes break promises made four years ago to reply to every request "within 20 working days wherever possible".