Introduction

Freedom of information (FoI) is legislation that obliges government and other public bodies to reveal information (often in the form of internal documents) to the public. Many countries around the world, including England and Wales, Scotland (which has similar but distinct legislation) and the USA, have adopted FoI legislation. The Act controlling the law in England and Wales is the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 governs Scots law. At the time this book was written, there was no FoI legislation covering Northern Ireland. Unlike the DPA, the UK's FoI laws are not tied to any EU directive. There is separate, and even stronger legislation covering information of relevance to the environment (the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and similar Scots legislation), but that is not considered further in this chapter.

A basic purpose of FoI legislation is to reduce the public's distrust of government. It improves democracy by giving the public greater access to the workings of government, and a better-informed electorate presumably ensures better government. It reduces the need for whistle-blowing and leaks, and reduces the chances that governments and government-related bodies make expensive mistakes or corrupt decisions. In the UK, FoI legislation was only passed with great reluctance by the then Labour Government, and Tony Blair, the then prime minister, is on record as saying that the legislation was the worst mistake he made when prime minister – a remark that would be viewed with surprise by many. Even having been passed, the England and Wales Act has very wide exemptions, which make it less than useful for many purposes. Thus, for example, it was only after many struggles over the applicability of the Act that Heather Brooke, the campaigner, finally uncovered the scandal of parliamentary expenses. This case set a precedent that the UK Government cannot refuse to disclose details about a public sector employee's salary band and/or expenses.

There is a degree of tension between any FoI act and data protection legislation, as the latter is designed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information about individuals, while the former tries to expose as much information as possible.