Isle of Man set to get FOI right re publicly owned companies
Isle of Man bill has a more sensible definition of “publicly-owned company”. →Read more
Good MP needed to amend a bill
I am looking for a good MP to help get the Protection of Freedoms Bill amended. The changes I want made relate to Freedom of Information (FOI). Under the current FOI Act a company owned by one public body is (generally) subject to FOI itself but there is a loophole in that a company jointly […] →Read more
Should state-funded political parties be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000?
Someone recently tweeted (@confirmordeny) “political parties that get taxpayers money should be subject to #foi”. My initial response was to disagree and I got a follow up message: “I disagree. State-funded parties are as much part of the apparatus of the state as quangos.” After this second tweet I decided the issue needs looking at […] →Read more
A to Z of bodies not covered by FOI
too many bodies with public funding and/or regulator powers are outside the reach of the Freedom of Information Act – I want the Government to make use powers it already has to bring more bodies into the scope of the Act →Read more
Letter to ICO re FOI requests to ministers
Dear Information Commissioner I am writing in a personal capacity to seek clarification about the ICO’s approach to requests to specific Government Ministers. It has come to my attention that the ICO has stated in a letter that “the Ministers for Health” and the “Prime Minister” are not public authorities for the purposes of the […] →Read more
right of public access to spatial data sets and spatial data services
I was reading the ICO’s Annual Report and I noticed on page 7 that the list of laws that the ICO enforces now includes: “The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community Regulations 2009” (The regulations are subject to a staged implementation – I don’t fully understand the timing of the implementation yet). I […] →Read more
Republican repeals
The YourFreedom website lists hundreds of ways in which could be changed but I have decided to take a look at some of the ideas which are consistent with republican principles. Ideas on the site are supposed to fall into at least one of the following headings: restoring civil liberties repealing unnecessary laws cutting business […] →Read more
ICO respond to my email re dissolution of Parliament
ICO respond to me email re FOI requests during dissolution of Parliament. →Read more
One Man’s View of One Society
I have been getting a lot of tweets from @One_Society and in the main I agree with what they are trying to achieve – a more equal society. I have however expressed some reservations about the idea of fixed pay ratio that would for example limit the maximum pay to 10 times the London Living […] →Read more
Email to ICO re House of Commons Commission
Dear SirsI am writing to complain about the House of Commons Commission’s failure to answer my request for environmental information: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/environmental_information_in_min The House of Commons Commission have stated that: “For the avoidance of doubt the House of Commons Commission is not a public authority within the meaning of the Environmental Information regulations.” I believe the […] →Read more