FOI is freeing our public organisations
The Freedom of Information Act has contributed to a cultural shift in our public institutions, the information commissioner Richard Thomas told us this afternoon.
When the FOI act was first introduced is was something of "a fragile flower," he said, "exotic and unfamiliar" and perhaps resisted by parts of the public sector. Three years since the act came into effect - making us the 52nd country in the world to introduce an FOI law - it is largely a success, he said.
Sixty percent of requests are granted, and most of those are not the more glamourous requests that make the media but more "bread and butter" requests, said Thomas. "We have a right to know what the government is doing with our money in our public organisations, and that has resonated with the public," he said.
FULL ARTICLE: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2008/nov/11/society-of-editors-events/print>