The Freedom of Information Act was brought in two years ago to help people find out as much information on public bodies as they could.

It has proved a valuable tool, especially for newspapers wanting to get data into the public arena that they previously might have been blocked from obtaining.

But it seems the Act is proving a little too useful for the public, as the Government now wants to restrict its use.

MAURICE FRANKEL, the director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information argues here why it is vital this Act must not be tampered with.

The Government thinks we know too much about it. Only two years after bringing the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act fully into force, ministers have decided to severely cut back the right to know.

The Government says it is merely targeting the more expensive requests, to keep costs down. But the Act itself costs only £35 million a year. The cuts are supposed to save just under £12 million annually, a tiny sum in Government terms. After all, the National Audit Office says the government could save £660 million by more careful purchasing of office supplies.

What the Government really wants is a bit more privacy from our prying eyes. FOI is beginning to put ministers under pressure. We are learning more about the costs of contentious policies like identity cards. Unwelcome information about ministers' meetings with commercial lobbyists has been disclosed.

At local level, the Act has been even more effective. Spending on contracts, consultancies and expenses has come under new scrutiny. FOI requests have revealed the success rates of individual heart surgeons, the failures of some restaurants to meet hygiene standards, the millions spent by councils employing temporary agency staff instead of full-time employees, the number of taxi drivers with drink-driving or assault convictions and the amounts hospitals make from parking charges.

Now the Government wants to make it much easier for authorities to reject FOI requests. At the moment, they can refuse to answer if the cost of finding the information would be more than £450 or, in the case of Government departments, £600. Ministers want them to also count the cost of the time spent discussing and deciding what to do about the request.

The hours needed to deal with an unwelcome request could be boosted by deliberately consulting lawyers or ensuring that meetings involved not only the officials handling the issue but their line managers too. Meetings wouldn't actually have to take place: an estimate of their likely hours would do.

Ministers also want to allow authorities to add up the cost of all the requests made by the same individual or organisation to an authority during any three months, and refuse them if the total is more than the £450 or £600 limit. A newspaper, campaign group, MP or other regular requester might be limited to one or two requests a quarter.

Freedom of information has been a Labour party commitment for 30 years. Having brought the legislation into force just two years ago the Government ought to be taking pride in the Act's success, not trying to stifle it.

The Government is now consulting about these proposals. You can help by letting your MP know that you want more, not less, freedom of information.

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  • How the FoI law has been used on behalf of YOUR right to know