The Campaign for Freedom of Information is a non-profit organisation working to improve public access to official information and ensure that the Freedom of Information Act is implemented effectively.

The Campaign was set-up in 1984, played a leading role in the passage of the FOI Act and is recognised as a leading independent authority in the field. We provide advice to individuals in exercising their rights to information. We also provide training both for public authorities implementing the Act and for users of the legislation.

We are not affiliated to any political party. Our main funding comes from charitable sources including the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Allen Lane Foundation, the Nuffield Foundation, the GW Cadbury Charitable Trust and from supporting organisations and individuals.

If you believe Britain is too secretive a society, please support our work by making a donation. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated.

If you can help by volunteering in our London office please get in touch as we often need extra help with campaigning, research projects and general office administration.

You can follow the Campaign on Twitter http://twitter.com/CampaignFOI. If you would like to be kept informed about our work please send an email to admin@cfoi.demon.co.uk with 'CFOI Updates' in the subject field.

The Campaign has published a users' guide to the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and rights to see personal data about you held by public authorities. The guide covers both the UK and Scottish legislation. For the latest news and developments about FOI visit the Campaign's blog.

Are you a lawyer able to provide pro bono assistance to people representing themselves in FOI tribunal cases? If so, the Campaign would welcome hearing from you. Please get in touch at: admin@cfoi.demon.co.uk or write to us at the address at the bottom of the page.

New approach to 'vexatious' requests demolishes government case for FOI restrictions. More FOI requests are likely to be refused as vexatious following official guidance issued last week. But the change removes the government's case for introducing more fundamental and damaging restrictions, says the Campaign.

The Campaign has written to the Justice minister Lord McNally urging the government to drop its proposals to make it easier for public authorities to refuse FOI requests on costs grounds. The Campaign says the proposals are now redundant in light of recent decisions of the Upper Tribunal and new guidance published by the Information Commissioner which allow requests causing a disproportionate burden to be refused as vexatious.

The Campaign is writing to MPs asking them to sign a motion calling on the government not to proceed with its proposals to make it easier for public authorities to refuse FOI requests on cost grounds. The motion, which the Campaign has helped co-ordinate, has been tabled by veteran FOI advocate Sir Richard Shepherd. If your MP has not signed (the list of who have signed is here), please encourage them to do so and help defend the Freedom of Information Act.

Campaign calls on Information Commissioner to clamp down on excessive FOI delays.

Information Commissioner & Tribunal Decisions course, London 5 June 2013.

This course, now is its 8th year, deals only with significant Commissioner and Tribunal decisions issued during the past six months. It aims to help experienced FOI practitioners and others with a good working knowledge of the FOI Act keep abreast of new developments. Its exact content is dependent on the decisions that have been issued during the period, but typically covers issues such as: "fair" and "unfair" disclosures of personal data; the FOI/EIR border; the application of specific exemptions including those for breach of confidence, commercial interests and legal professional privilege; where the public interest line is being drawn; the cost limit, aggregating requests, advice & assistance and other administrative provisions. The course is presented by the Campaign's director, Maurice Frankel, who has worked in the field for 29 years. Further information and booking form here.

The FOI Act is at risk! The government is planning to amend the FOI Act to make it easier for authorities to refuse requests on costs grounds. The changes could have serious implications for requesters. The Campaign is holding a briefing meeting on Monday 18 February 2013 to discuss the impact of the proposals and what can be done about them.

The government is proposing significant changes to the FOI Act to make it easier for authorities to refuse time consuming FOI requests. Their impact will not be limited to voluminous requests: they will make it harder to get answers to modestly sized requests. The Campaign's reaction to the proposals can be found here.

Using the FOI Act! Training for requesters, London 23 April 2013

Do you want to learn how to use the Freedom of Information Act? Are you already using the Act but want to know more about how the Information Commissioner and Tribunal are interpreting its key provisions? While making a FOI request is straightforward, making an effective request is more difficult. The Campaign's practical course is designed to help requesters make effective use of the legislation. The morning session provides a working guide to the legislation and includes an interactive section on drafting requests. The afternoon session is more advanced and covers some of the key decisions made by the Information Commissioner and Tribunal and explains their implications for you. Further information and booking form here.

The Campaign has responded to the Cabinet Office's consultation on the draft code of practice on datasets. The response highlights the inappropriate use of copyright restrictions on information disclosed under the FOI Act.

The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland has produced a series of briefings on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 January 2013.

The Campaign has criticised the government's veto over the release of Prince Charles' lobbying correspondence.

The Campaign has welcomed Labour's promise to protect Freedom of Information and extend it to cover contractors delivering public services.

The Campaign has welcomed the Justice Committee's report on post-legislative scrutiny of the FOI Act, which rejects charging for FOI requests or restrictions on access to policy discussions in Whitehall.

The Campaign made two written submissions to the Committee and also gave oral evidence at the Committee's first hearing on 21 February 2012. You can watch a recording of the session here or read a transcript of it here. Our initial written evidence described some areas where the FOI Act and Environmental Information Regulations are not working as well as they should and suggested a number of improvements such as the introduction of more specific time limits for responding to requests and dealing with internal reviews and the lifting of some absolute exemptions. It also addressed the contracting out of public authority functions to bodies which are not subject to the Act. Recent measures to encourage this process are likely to substantially undermine the public's rights to information. Finally, it responded to suggestions that changes to the right of access may be introduced to protect cabinet papers, to introduce fees for FOI requests or make it easier for public authorities to refuse requests on cost grounds. The Campaign made a supplementary submission to the Committee addressing some of the points about the Act's exemption for policy advice made by Lord O'Donnell and Jack Straw in their evidence to the Committee. This supplementary submission also provided provides examples of excessive or wasteful spending revealed by FOI, which suggest the Act is likely to play an important role in exposing and deterring excessive spending, which is generally not taken into account when assessing the 'costs' of FOI.

The Tribunal has agreed with a submission from the Campaign that the Information Commissioner was wrong to find that NHS bodies are prohibited from releasing information which they have supplied to the Health Service Ombudsman. The Tribunal allowed the Campaign to take part in an appeal on this issue, despite the Information Commissioner's objections. It accepted the Campaign's arguments that a statutory bar on disclosure applied only to the Ombudsman and not to those supplying information to the Ombudsman. The Tribunal's decision is available here.

The Information Commissioner's decision that emails dealing with government business sent by the Education Secretary Michael Gove using a private account are subject to the FOI Act was welcomed by the Campaign.

In this podcast produced by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, the Campaign talks to Nicholas Jones about new threats to the Freedom of Information Act and its fear that the review of the Act - which is being conducted by the House of Commons Justice Committee - could be used by the coalition government to impose new restrictions and exemptions.

The Guardian has published a response by the Campaign to an attack on the Freedom of Information Act by the commentator Simon Jenkins.

The Campaign has written to The Times responding to comments made by Sir Gus O'Donnell, the outgoing cabinet secretary, that the Freedom of Information Act should be amended to provide greater protection for cabinet discussions.

The Campaign has written to The Times responding to an article by Matthew Parris on the recent disclosure of the names of those who had refused honours under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Campaign is holding a briefing meeting on the future of the Freedom of Information Act on Wednesday 18 January at 2 pm, for those considering giving evidence to the Justice Committee's inquiry on post-legislative scrutiny of the Act. The Committee is likely to recommend changes to the law. This could be an important opportunity to improve the Act. But there will also be significant pressure for new restrictions from public authorities concerned about the cost of dealing with FOI requests or lobbying for new exemptions. The Campaign is strongly encouraging requesters to submit evidence about their experiences to the Committee.

The Campaign has welcomed new guidance published by the Information Commissioner confirming that emails dealing with public authority business sent using private email accounts are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The Campaign has responded to the Cabinet Office's 'Making Open Data Real' consultation. The response emphasises the extent to which the government's vision of improvements to accountability, service quality, efficiency, choice and citizen empowerment depend on the FOI Act, since (a) although datasets may highlight discrepancies in performance, the FOI Act is needed to understand what is behind them and (b) the dataset provisions are being implemented for public authorities by amendments to the FOI Act itself. It points out that both the FOI Act and the dataset proposals will be undermined by the contracting out provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill and the Localism Bill. It also argues that the abuse of copyright restrictions, which the government's amendments address, is not restricted to datasets but applies to ordinary disclosures under the FOI Act.

The Campaign has written to the Deputy Commissioner, David Smith, raising a number of concerns about the Information Commissioner's data protection guidance on 'Access to Information Held in Complaints Files'. David Smith has now replied to the letter, saying that the Campaign's comments will be taken into account should the guidance be revised.

The Campaign has written to the health secretary Andrew Lansley expressing concern that FOI rights are likely to be "significantly curtailed" by the NHS reforms. The health minister, Lord Howe, has now replied to the Campaign's letter saying that the issues it raises will be examined in the context of a forthcoming review. It says that where possible the government will push to ensure that where functions are contracted out "the coverage of FOIA is maintained."

The Campaign has called for the Information Commissioner's powers to prosecute authorities or officials who destroy information to prevent its release under the Freedom of Information to be strengthened.

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Campaign for Freedom of Information
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Email: admin@cfoi.demon.co.uk