Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 was something of an unwelcome milestone for the hitherto unexposed institutions of government, as illustrated in the excellent and recently broadcast ‘On Expenses’ on BBC4.

Making an Freedom of Information request is a reasonably simple process and there are guidelines to assist the citizen in how to formulate questions regarding the activities & expenditure of an extensive list of ‘public authorities’ as defined by the legislation. Well used by journalists to uncover the missing bits in official responses to earlier enquiries it is regarded as an imperfect but immeasurably better approach to what existed before its introduction.  

But now here’s a thing; public body networks are apparently reporting a near-enough threefold increase in FoI requests over the last eighteen months aimed at local authorities, ASPBs and health bodies in Wales. Oddly, this spike is not attributable to press or public interest but a growth in statutory enquiries from ‘political sources’ – an euphemism believed to be linked to the number of political research staff employed at Cardiff Bay and where recent job adverts have been placed to employ more.

The inference is that political researchers, employed at public expense by politicians who themselves receive salaries & allowances from the public purse, are placing increasing numbers of FoI requests on a range of matters with public bodies who are legally obliged to respond using a formal and time-consuming process. Their answers are then turned into press releases by other political staff and which inevitably include some call by the AM for a reduction in public sector bureaucracy.

Politicians understandably will always wish to be seen as championing moves to end wasteful practices in the public sector. But when an institutionalised system of scrutiny using written and verbal questioning to bring ministers to account is regularly bypassed for what appears to be solely party-political reasons then this is arguably wasteful to the extent of bordering on being an abuse of public office.

Under the circumstances however, you will understand if we hesitate in making a suggestion that serious questions should be asked.