Clegg vows to expand freedom of information

Thursday, 6 January 2011 5:30 PM

By Ian Dunt

Freedom of Information could be radically expanded to bring in taxpayer-funded bodies and charities, under plans being formulated by Nick Clegg.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the deputy prime minister said the government was looking into broadening the scope of the law as part of its effort to rebalance the relationship between citizens and the state.

"Information is knowledge and knowledge is power. People cannot be free when the state is forever on their back, when their liberties are denied and their autonomy is undermined," he said.

"So this government is going to restore British freedoms. It is part of our wider project to resettle the relationship between people and government.

"Free citizens must be able to hold big institutions and powerful individuals to account, and not only the government."

The move could force many bodies at the centre of public debate to reveal their decision making process to the public.

Energy and water organisations would be expected to become more transparent, as would policing, academic and financial institutions.

The Association of Chief Police Officers, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, Local Government Association, Financial Ombudsman Service, Network Rail and the Advertising Standards Authority could all potentially be affected by the changes.

"There are a whole range of organisations who benefit from public money and whose activities have a profound impact on the public good," Mr Clegg added.

"In order to do so, citizens must first know what goes on in these institutions, and they must be at liberty to speak out about the things they discover.

"It is a modern right to information combined with traditional freedom of expression.

"Recent years have seen some progress on transparency, most notably through the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act.

"But that progress has stalled. The Freedom of Information Act was a good start, but it was only a start.

"Exceptions remain far too common and the available information is too often placed behind tedious bureaucratic hurdles.

"The previous Labour government knew this but chose to respond to repeated calls for the extension of freedom of information by kicking the issue into the long grass."

In a separate development, the length of time government records are classified as secret is to be reduced from 30 to 20 years.

The Freedom of Information Act is viewed by transparency campaigners as a pivotal move in the history of information transparency.

But New Labour always had an uncertain relationship with the law, which Tony Blair branded one of his greatest mistakes.

Many government officials were irritated by the way the law forced civil servants to work on any request, many of which were frivolous.

Civil servants are often quick to express exasperation as well, with officials citing instances in which they had to research material for sixth formers' course work rather than conducting affairs of state.

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