BBC News | UK POLITICS | Minister denies information U-turn

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Tuesday, 11 January, 2000, 17:15 GMT

Minister denies information U-turn

Freedom of information campaigners have accused the government of seeking to restrict the powers of its own proposed openness legislation bill by the back door.

Campaigners believe a proposed amendment to the Freedom of Information Bill would give Home Secretary Jack Straw and his successors the power to bar the release of documents from any area of public life without first gaining the approval of Parliament.

The Home Office has denied the accusations as "paranoid and unreal".

'Slanted bill'

But the campaigners say that Mr Straw's new clause in the draft legislation entitles him to close scrutiny of whole areas of public life simply by issuing a parliamentary order.

After 28 days, the order would be incorporated in the act. Pressure groups warned that the change could slip through without anyone noticing.

The director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Maurice Frankel, said if the government needed to make such substantial changes it should be done through primary legislation and scrutinised in Parliament.

He said: "I think the bill is too heavily slanted in favour of the convenience and control of the executive at the expense of the citizen.

"I think if this was done in a better, more positive spirit people would be a lot happier about the whole exercise."

But Home Office minister Mike O'Brien said the amendment was merely a technical matter and did not undermine the government's commitment to openness.

Mr O'Brien, speaking to the BBC, dismissed the claims as "paranoid and unreal" and said any notion that the government would reverse measures within the bill was "complete nonsense".

"The whole objective of this bill is to create freedom of information," he said.

"That is why we are putting it through Parliament."

Mr O'Brien said the purpose of the amendment was to allow the names of new public bodies - such as the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence - to be added to the legislation, and then removed when they ceased to exist, he said.

He denied that the use of parliamentary orders would mean that changes could be slipped through unnoticed.

"The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments considers every one of these and if anything unusual or arbitrary were done by the home secretary - which it would not be - the committee would immediately bring it to the attention of the House," he said.

The Freedom of Information Bill completed its second reading in Parliament before the end of last year and is currently in its committee stage. It is expected to become law before the end of this year.

Related to this story:
Straw defends freedom bill (07 Dec 99 | UK Politics)
Straw unveils information bill (22 Oct 99 | UK Politics)
Labour 'tightening up secrecy' - Tories (06 Dec 99 | UK Politics)

Internet Links: Freedom of Information Bill Campaign for Freedom of Information Home Office - Freedom of Information Unit
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