Written question asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Ashton of Upholland (Labour) on Monday, 6 November 2006.

Freedom of Information

Question: What is their assessment of the impact of their proposal to amend the Freedom of Information regulations on the exercise of the freedom of the press to inform the public and the right of the public to be informed about the workings of Government (a) to include reading time, consideration time and consultation time spent by Ministers in the calculation of the appropriate limit above which requests for information could be refused on costs grounds; and (b) to aggregate requests made by any legal person, or persons apparently acting in cohort including newspapers and broadcasting companies, to each public authority for the purposes of calculating the appropriate limit.

Answer: The independent review commissioned by the Secretary of State was an economic analysis of the impact of FoI across central Government and the wider public sector. The aim of the changes we are considering is to ensure that we strike the right balance between the provision of information and the provision of public services. It is not our aim to fetter the freedom of the press to inform the public or reduce the right of the public to be informed about the workings of Government and we do not consider that the changes we are considering would have that effect.

Secondary information