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Britain is rejecting an ever greater share of freedom-of-information requests

Fewer than half have been approved in full over the past decade

“OPENNESS IS fundamental to the political health of a modern state”. So began the White Paper that led to the passing of the Freedom of Information Act in Britain in 2000. Its aim was to create a transparent executive accessible to the public. Two decades later after its adoption, however, the law is failing to deliver.

Freedom-of-information requests (FOIs) can be made for material held by government departments or other agencies. Open-government advocates’ excitement about the White Paper were tempered as the law came into being with several exemptions, notably a clause giving ministers the right to veto a disclosure. Other reasons for denying requests include cost, time limits and security considerations. Even so, governments have over time tried to close the window of transparency even tighter.

In 2006 more than 60% of FOI requests were answered. That figure has fallen steadily to 42% in 2018, according to figures released on May 1st.

There are significant differences across departments. The Wales Office responded fully to 72% of requests (it had to deal with only 140). In contrast, the Department for Work and Pensions dealt with more than 4,000 FOIs, answering half of them. The worst departments may feel they have more pressing concerns at the moment. The Brexit department received 431 requests in 2018, but answered only a quarter. The Department for International Trade answered just 27%. The Foreign Office did even worse. No department has improved on a decade ago, and many are doing much worse.

Non-ministerial offices such as OFSTED and the Serious Fraud Office can be equally unco-operative: they answered just 16% and 28% of requests respectively. Agencies like the Crown Prosecution Service or the Charity Commission have a poor response rate, too.

There have been some important successes for FOIs. The MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009 was brought to light because of FOI and led to prison terms for some politicians. But the trend towards more closed government is unmistakable.

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