PM Brown Proposes Freedom of Information Act Reform
The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has proposed to radically reform the current laws in respect of data protection and secrecy. In the principal announcement made, he suggested that the Freedom of Information Act could be broadened - giving members of the public access to corporate documents previously unavailable. In this way, Mr Brown put into motion a review regarding whether the Act's current thresholds should be amended so as private-sector companies "running services for the public sector", should be included.
Reform Will Place Private Sector Firms Under Act's Coverage
The present Freedom of Information Act permits public companies to issue copies of documents if demanded to so do. While Mr Brown did not elaborate as to the exact firms, groups and agencies that the proposed expansion would place within the Act's governance, industry analysts have suggested public transport organisations and others significantly tied to the government would now be included under its terms. Among the firms that The Times linked to the expanded Act were Balfour Beatty (construction), BAE Systems (aerospace) and QinetiQ (Defence)
Mr Brown's comments were made in a speech given at the University of Westminster. "We are today publishing a consultation document to consider whether additional organisations discharging a public function - including, in some instances, private sector companies running services for the public sector - should be brought within the scope of Freedom of Information legislation", he said.
Freedom of Information Act Charge Increase Plan Dropped
Mr Brown added that he had abolished previous-announced plans, whereby increased charges would be levelled on applications made under the Freedom of Information Act. Within this part of his speech, he conceded that a measure of this kind would have set up "unacceptable barriers" between the public and corporate worlds.
The Prime Minister also declared that he was assessing the benefits of reducing the time period after which Cabinet documents can enter the public domain - which is currently set at 30 years. "It is an irony that the information that can be made available on request on current events and current decisions is still withheld as a matter of course for similar events and similar decisions that happened 20 or 25 years ago", he stressed, in support of this proposal.
Source - Security International's Current Affairs Correspondent
