The Scottish Government has announced its intention to remove the absolute exemption for information relating to communications with the Queen, the Heir and the second in line to the throne from its Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. In its Stage 1 report on the Bill the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee said it “remained unconvinced of the need” for the provision, having received “substantial evidence” from witnesses including the Scottish Information Commissioner and Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (see earlier post).
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The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has published a Report on the Crime and Courts Bill which will be considered at Report stage in the House of Lords from Tuesday 27 November. In its Report the Committee expresses concern that the new National Crime Agency to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act:

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The Cabinet Office is consulting on a new code of practice on the new provisions in the Freedom of Information Act inserted by the Protection of Freedoms Act that enhance the right to data. These new provisions on datasets will be commenced in April 2013. The Code of Practice (datasets) will sit alongside the existing Section 45 Code of Practice on the Freedom of Information Act.

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Maritime agency’s Monaco trip funded by taxpayer – BBC – 15.11.12
Officials of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have been criticised for spending almost £20,000 sending four people to an annual boat show in Monaco during a period of cuts.

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The Government are reported to be seeking to appeal against the recent decision by the Information Rights Tribunal (Cabinet Office v IC, EA/2011/0263) ordering the disclosure of information relating to the controversial takeover of Rowntree Mackintosh by Nestle in 1988. At the time of the request the disputed information was at least 22 years old

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The Stage 1 debate on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill will take place this afternoon in the Scottish Parliament, shortly after 2.30 pm. You can watch the debate live at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/newsandmediacentre/30912.aspx.

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Although the coalition government is committed to extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, the process is turning out to be excruciatingly slow.

Before the 2010 election the Conservatives promised to extend the FOI Act to additional bodies “within weeks of the General Election”. A consultation was announced by the Ministry of Justice on 7 January 2011, but two and a half years after the election, a decision on the outcome is still not close.

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Tax-dodging clampdown will aid open-government commitments – The Guardian – 30.10.12
Eric Gutierrez, senior governance advisor at Christian Aid, states that the UK government’s transparency commitments and its leadership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) are commendable. However, some transparency commitments are more politically difficult than others, he says, and it’s the difficult ones that, so far, are still not appearing in the government’s agenda for the OGP.
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The Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee has today published its Stage 1 report on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. The report asks the Scottish Government to remove the Royal exemption provision from the Bill, which would mirror the absolute exemption for information relating to communications with the monarch, heir and second in line to throne that was controversially introduced to the UK FOI Act by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

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The following guidance has recently been published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

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