Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 17 January 2006.

Information Commissioner

Question: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister. However, is she aware how disappointed—indeed, disillusioned—those of us who campaigned long and hard for freedom of information legislation are by the lack of ability to deliver? Is she surprised or dismayed that it is taking so long for the Information Commissioner to examine complaints of unwanted secrecy? For example, I submitted a complaint in April 2005 when I was still an MP. I received no response until November 2005, when the commissioner told me:"““We will start on your complaint as soon as we can””." Does the Minister recognise that such a lack of urgency and resources is undermining the whole system? Freedom of information is, at the moment, a sham. Can the Minister confirm a report in Private Eye that membership of the freedom of information users group is secret?

Answer: My Lords, I shall seek to answer the noble Lord’s questions. On his final point, I am putting together a freedom of information users group, but we have not yet invited anybody to participate. I have yet to finalise the list with my noble and learned friend. When I do so, people will be invited; there is no truth in the Private Eye story. Regarding the question of urgency, anyone looking at how the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was brought in—when we sought to be transparent in dealing with all of these issues—would know that, working closely with the Information Commissioner, we anticipated that there would be a surge of requests, as indeed happened. We have resourced him to the tune of £5 million, and my noble and learned friend has made it perfectly clear that on resourcing issues the Information Commissioner is invited to come to us as urgently as he can so that we may address them. I believe freedom of information is critical; I, too, campaigned for it and I am delighted that we did it.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 677 c542
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Complaints Administrative delays Freedom of information Secrecy Data protection Information Commissioner's Office
Legislation: Freedom of Information Act 2000; Data Protection Act 1998
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk