We see that the Beans on Toast is marking the fifth anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 - a ground-breaking piece of legislation that took all of five years before it was fully implemented by the same crowd who later went on to conjure up compulsory DNA sampling and ID cards. But that aside, there is no doubting its success – especially from the viewpoint of the press and politicians.
As we mentioned in March, public body networks are reporting a threefold increase in FoI requests made to local authorities, ASPBs and health bodies in Wales over the last eighteen months. Helpful as ever, the Evening Post provides its own list of examples of how they have used the Act to uncover hitherto unpublished details of public sector expense and under-performance. Yet there is a puzzling omission.
As we understand it, the Evening Post received leaked evidence last month which highlighted how an official report into the death of a local teenager had been watered down. They were also apparently advised that a Freedom of Information request would confirm many of the facts that had been removed. Unlike the Western Mail, they did not make an FOI request or report that different versions existed. The contents of the reports were not published in any detail despite the paper having earlier revealed the identity of the dead teenagers.
It is arguable that freedom, as with power, brings with it certain responsibilities. No more is this so than in respect of what we like to call in this country a ‘free press’; libel and privacy court rulings permitting. There is no question that privately owned publications have the right to decide what they print and what they do not.
But they should also remember that it is our rights that are affected when they make those decisions.
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