Beith: Warning on FoI impact

The government is not providing enough guidance to the public sector about the impact of new freedom of information legislation, MPs have warned.

A report published by the Commons constitutional affairs select committee has raised concerns about the ability of a range of local bodies and government agencies to comply with new laws which take effect from January 1.

The study found that Whitehall departments have made "good progress" in their preparations.

But the situation elsewhere was described as "less encouraging".

"The failure of the Department for Constitutional Affairs to provide strategic control, leadership or early enough guidance to public bodies on the technical aspects of implementation as well as the high turnover of DCA staff are partly to blame for the current situation," said the report.

It said that Lord Falconer's department had also been late in publishing guidance on issues such as fees, giving public bodies only a few weeks instead of four years to prepare for the changes.

And some local authorities will not be compliant with the new open information regime, said the MPs.

"The DCA has had four years to prepare for freedom of information but with less than a month to go it appears that some bodies may not be well enough prepared," said committee chairman Alan Beith.

"Our report shows that in the past, support and guidance from the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which has overall responsibility for guiding the public sector through the process of implementation for the freedom of information regime, has been lacking.

"Every effort must be taken in these last few weeks to iron out any remaining hurdles."

Beith warned that the new rules were "not an optional extra that public bodies can sign up to if they want to".

"Freedom of information must be seen as a positive development, not a chore," he added.

"Securing freedom of information is not just a chore to be undertaken it should be a catalyst to a cultural shift to greater openness."