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The Campaign for Freedom of Information |
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The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP 19 November 1998
Dear Prime Minister, I am writing on behalf of the Campaign and other organisations to express our dismay at reports that a Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill has been dropped from the coming year's legislative programme. We appreciate that many measures are competing for a place in the Parliamentary timetable but nevertheless believe FOI ought to be a high priority. The reform has a unique place amongst current government commitments. An FOI Act featured in the Labour party's manifestos of 1974, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992 and 1997. A measure which has been consistently promised over 25 years ought to be an irresistible candidate for early implementation. If FOI is not introduced in the coming Parliamentary session, the earliest an Act can come into force is 2001. This will be a long wait for these important new rights. As there has been no commitment on the timing of the legislation the delay may be even greater. It is possible that an Act may not be in operation this side of the next general election. The prospect of such a delay will be deeply frustrating for those who are now denied information - and may even damage the government's ability to discharge its obligations. The former Chief Medical Officer, Sir Donald Acheson, recently told the BSE inquiry that information about the possible BSE contamination of medical products such as vaccines had been withheld from him, while he was CMO, because of the secrecy imposed by the present medicines legislation. The delay in bringing forward a Freedom of Information Act will allow such extraordinary secrecy to continue. It may also have implications for the longer term. At the Campaign's annual Awards in 1996, you said that FOI is "absolutely fundamental to how we see politics developing in this country over the next few years". We welcomed this statement both because of the unambiguous terms in which you expressed your commitment to reform and for your recognition of the central importance FOI would play in the work of the new government. We fear that the longer delayed the legislation is, the more difficult it will be to achieve this shift in culture. The impact of an Act of course depends on its substance. The FOI white paper of December 1997 was widely welcomed. We hope the forthcoming draft Bill will fully reflect the White Paper's principles, and that the proposals on scope, enforcement, 'substantial harm' and charging will not be revised in ways likely to limit the citizen's effective right to official information. If the measure fails to find a place in the legislative session after the next, many people will believe it is dead. We hope the government will avoid this by giving an explicit commitment on the timing of the legislation (as opposed to a draft Bill). This should go beyond the usual statement that it will be introduced when parliamentary business permits, and make it clear that the legislation will be introduced in the third session of this Parliament. In the absence of such a commitment, there is bound to be speculation about its future and a reform which should reflect great credit on the government may instead become a source of disappointment and reproach. Yours sincerely,
James Cornford
Co-signed by Malcolm Smart, Deputy Director Jonathan Baume, General Secretary Denise Kitchener, Executive Director Arthur Chappell, Executive Committee Member Sir Neville Purvis, Director General Mike Baker, Chief Executive Roger Bolton, General Secretary Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom Jean Mossman, Chief Executive CancerBACUP Andrew Puddephatt, Director Charter 88 Christopher Underwood, General Secretary Chartered Institute of Journalists Rt Revd Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford Church of England, Board for Social Responsibility Marianne Rigge, Director College of Health Sheila McKechnie, Director Consumers' Association Rosie Boycott, Editor The Express Tim Lobstein, Co-director Food Commission Tony Juniper, Policy & Campaigns Director Friends of the Earth Kevin Dunion, Director Friends of the Earth Scotland Deborah Tripley, Company Lawyer Greenpeace Alan Rusbridger, Editor The Guardian Geoffrey Elliott, President Guild of Editors Simon Kelner, Editor The Independent Helen Shaw, Co-director Inquest Anne Owers, Director Justice John Wadham, Director Liberty Ross Shimmon, Chief Executive Library Association Revd John Kennedy, Secretary for Political Affairs Methodist Church Ruth Evans, Director National Consumer Council John Foster, General Secretary National Union of Journalists J McCusker, General Secretary Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance Nancy Tait MBE, Director Occupational & Environmental Diseases Association Claire Rayner, Chair Patients Association Peter Beaumont, Development Director Pesticides Trust Jon Slattery, Acting Editor Press Gazette Stephen Shaw, Director Prison Reform Trust Karen Ashton, Acting Director Public Law Project John Sheldon & Barry Reamsbottom, Joint General Secretary Public and Commercial Services Union Janet Lynch, Clerk of Central Committee Quaker Social Responsibility & Education Richard Smith Jackson MBE, Hon Chairman Rescare Derek Manson-Smith, Co-ordinator Scottish Campaign for Freedom of Information Charles Medawar, Director Social Audit Marjory Hall, National Chairman Townswomen's Guilds Dave Prentis, Deputy General Secretary UNISON Revd Peter Brain, Secretary for Church & Society United Reformed Church Barry Coates, Director World Development Movement |
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