Lancaster and Fleetwood MP warns government's cabinet office is becoming 'black box' of delayed information

Cat Smith, who is also the shadow minister for Voter Engagement said that the government's "disregard for Freedom of Information (FOI) should rightly raise questions about what they have to hide".
Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith.Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith.
Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith.

But the Cabinet Office has said that due to the coronavirus, the number of FOI requests it receives has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year, coupled with fewer resources due to its response to the pandemic.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities.

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Authorities normally have to respond within 20 days of the request.

Figures released on the government's own website shows that the Cabinet Office - which is responsible for transparency and FOI management - consistently misses deadlines far more often than other departments.

Figures show just 64 per cent of Freedom of Information requests to the Cabinet Office were responded to within the required response time in the last quarter of 2020.

This is compared to 85 per cent in 2019, 92 per cent in 2018, and 95 per cent in 2017.

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The figures also show that the Cabinet Office missed its deadlines over the last five years twice as often as the Department of Health, and almost four times as often as the Department for Transport.

Cat Smith MP, Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement said: “Free access to government information is a crucial pillar of any transparent democracy.

"The public deserve to have a clear idea of what is going on within Government departments.

“The Tories disregard for Freedom of Information should rightly raise questions about what they have to hide.

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“As the department responsible for Government transparency, the Cabinet Office should be setting the standard for other departments to follow.

"Instead, it is in danger of becoming a black-box, with record high levels of delayed responses.”

A Cabinet office spokesperson said: "The Cabinet Office handles a significant number of FOI cases, which can be particularly sensitive and complex due to the nature of our work.

"The coronavirus pandemic has also meant the number of requests we receive has nearly doubled in the last quarter compared to the same period last year.

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"Recently we have had to prioritise our response to Covid-19, meaning we have fewer resources available to deal with FOIs, which will have had an impact on how quickly we are able to respond to requests.

"However, we are keen to improve our timeliness in responding to FOI requests, and are actively looking at ways to improve how FOI cases are processed in the Department."

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has also recognised that a reduction in public authority's resources due to Covid-19 could affect their ability to comply with some aspects of freedom of information law.

The numbers

Across all monitored bodies, 84% of requests were responded to in time, down from 92% from the same period in 2019.

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This represents the lowest percentage of requests responded to in time since Q1 2005 (83%)

Of the 9,205 FOI requests received, 6,648 were resolvable. Of these, 37% were granted in full, down from 42% from the same period in 2019 and its lowest ever reported level.

Between April-June 2020, an average of 83% of FOI applications were responded to in time by Government departments, compared to only 64% on average completed by the Cabinet Office.

The Conservative Party has previously published proposals to make it easier for requests involving ‘disproportionate burden’ to be refused.

However, the latest stats show out of 9,205 FOIs received, only 57 were considered vexatious and 24 were repeated.