New FOI curbs could make Government more secret

Changes to the cost cap on requests could radically cut the proportion of requests under the FOI legislation that are answered.

One proposal would stop reporters from the same media group from making requests that cost more than £450 or £600 in the same three month period.

Previously the cost limit only applied to the actual requests for information, and not to the person asking for the information.

Other changes would allow officials to add into the cost their “thinking time” when deciding to give answers further limiting the information that would be released.

Public authorities can refuse requests if they the cost of answering climbs above the £600 threshold.

Information released through FOI have formed the basis of some of the biggest stories in recent years, notably the expenses details of hundreds of MPs which were at the heart of The Daily Telegraph's revelations about MPs' expenses in 2009.

The Campaign for Freedom of Information said it was particularly concerned at the proposal to allow an authority to include its ‘thinking time’ in the cost calculations.

Maurice Frankel, its director, said: “The longer an authority needs to think about a request, the greater the chance of it being able to refuse to answer on cost grounds.

“Requests involving unfamiliar, complex or contentious issues all of which require substantial ‘thinking time’ would be likely to be refused under these proposals. This would prevent the Act from dealing with difficult issues or breaking new ground.”

He added that local newspapers, which cover a range of different issues involving the same authority, would be the first casualties of this proposal.

Mr Frankel added: “A single request about school exam results might be enough to reach the cost limit.

“Thereafter the whole newspaper - not just the individual journalist - might be barred from making any further FOI requests to the authority for the next quarter, even on different issues such as child abuse, road safety or library closures.”

The Government’s proposals were published in its response to a committee of MPs which had been examining how FOI legislation was working.

Between April and June this year central Government received 11,634 requests, an increase of 5 per cent on the same period in 2011.

The Government said in its response that the measures it was proposing “will encourage FOIA to be applied more consistently across the public sector whilst ensuring that the FOI regime offers value for money”.

The time taken by public authorities to “examine and consider information and determine whether it is suitable for public release can be significant”, it added.