I am pleased to be able to lay before Parliament the second Report on proposals for implementing the Freedom of Information Act. While the progress made in the first year since the Act was passed was both encouraging and necessary, this primarily involved setting up the relevant structures to co-ordinate the implementation of the Act and the making of technical legislative provisions. I am happy to announce that this year has seen the coming into force of the first tangible aspects of the Act, in accordance with the implementation timetable for the Act which I announced on the 13th November 2001. Over the course of the year my Department has been engaged in consulting on and drafting a range of secondary legislation and Codes of Practice which implement significant parts of the Act.
The most important step in the implementation of the Act this year has been the coming into force of the publication scheme provisions of the Act for the first wave of public authorities. This places a statutory duty on those authorities, including all central government departments, to set out the information that they publish and are committed to publishing in the future. Publication schemes should be an important catalyst for changing the cultural attitudes of public authorities and encouraging the proactive dissemination of information. They should serve as a motor for the declassification of previously unavailable information.
Earlier this month I laid before Parliament two Codes of Practice under sections 45 and 46 of the Act. Respectively, these specify the practices which public authorities should follow in dealing with requests for information and with confidentiality clauses in contracts with public authorities; and in records management procedures. In addition an order has been made which extends the coverage of the Act to include further public authorities. The rules of procedure for the Information Tribunal have also been amended to give it the power to decide on complaints about authorities' publication schemes.
At the same time as this Report is published I have also announced the publication of an updated Report on the review of statutory provisions concerning disclosure of information. This Report identifies 97 pieces of legislation which unnecessarily prevent the disclosure of information which the Government intends to repeal or amend. This evidences the Government's determination to remove unnecessary secrecy.
Together these are important steps in the implementation of the Act, but there is still much to do in those parts of the public sector still preparing for the coming into force of the publication schemes provisions. All public authorities should also be developing a continuing programme of work to ensure the right of access operates smoothly and effectively from January 2005.
There are many elements to ensuring successful implementation. Good records management and administrative procedures need to be in place to ensure that authorities have the capability to deal with requests for information. Staff will need to be trained so that they know what the requirements of the Act are and can process requests for information correctly. But perhaps the most important step to be taken is for there to be a clear acceptance of responsibility at senior level to ensure that these changes take place and that they are co-ordinated in the most effective manner. Freedom of information requires a fundamental re-examination of the ways in which authorities carry out their work and communicate what they do. Without co-ordination at a senior level of the disparate policies to bring this change about, authorities will not reap the benefits the Act can bring. Details of how central Government is tackling this issue can be found later in this Report.
This Report details the progress that is being made on these fronts, particularly in those public authorities included in the first wave of implementation. I look forward to being able to report in future on the progress made in the successive waves.
27 November 2002
Since the Lord Chancellor's last report to Parliament in November 2001 there has been significant and tangible progress made on bringing into force important provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This builds on the progress made in the first year of the implementation of the Act which, for the most part, involved ensuring that the relevant structures in Government were in place and that the requisite legal provisions had been made.
As the Lord Chancellor announced on 13 November 2001, the Freedom of Information Act will be implemented in stages, according to a rolling programme. November 2002 sees the first significant provisions of the Act come into force. Achievements this year include:
Extending the coverage of the Act to include more public authorities (see section 4.1).
A full list of the provisions of the Act which are already in force, and the timetable for the implementation of the rest of the provisions of the Act are included at Annex A of this report.
In addition, work is being undertaken throughout the public sector to prepare for the implementation of the Act. This report provides an update on the preparations being made in each wave of implementation with a particular focus on the progress made by authorities included in the first wave. Much of this progress has been driven by the need for these authorities to produce a publication scheme under the Act. Following consultation with other government departments the Lord Chancellor's Department issued guidance on publication schemes for central government departments and non-departmental public bodies in July this year to supplement that produced by the Information Commissioner. This guidance is reproduced in Annex C. The report also looks at the progress that has been made across a range of areas including training and awareness raising, administrative and organisational structures, and records management. Good practice examples are included in section 3 and section 6.1 below.
There is still a great deal of work to be done until the full right of access comes into force in January 2005. Although the publication scheme requirements of the Act will come into force from November 2002 onwards, members of the public should be aware that they do not need to wait until the access right comes into force before they can make requests for information held by public authorities. A range of schemes already exist, some administrative, others statutory, which govern how authorities should respond to requests for information. Public authorities will also benefit from considering how well they are operating the existing regimes and the lessons which these provide for implementing the mechanisms and procedures for compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. The existing schemes include:
The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information remains in force and sets the standard for responses to individual requests for government departments and other public bodies within the remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Parliamentary Ombudsman).
More detailed information on these access regimes is included in Annex D of this report.
The Government believes that for public authorities to be fully prepared to comply with the Freedom of Information Act particular attention must be paid to certain aspects of how they function. The important themes which public authorities need to consider include; the need for responsibility for implementation to reside with senior management; the need for a coherent organisational structure to deal with freedom of information (FOI) and related issues; the development of clear administrative procedures to record and process requests for information; good records management, including undertaking information audits and making the necessary links to programmes introducing electronic record management; consulting publicly on the content of publication schemes; and training programmes for staff.
One of the best ways of assisting authorities in their preparations for the implementation of the Act is to highlight and disseminate examples of good practice. The returns that authorities in the first wave of implementation were asked to submit for this report contained examples where authorities have been particularly innovative, or well organised in preparing for the Act. A summary of the good practice examples which illustrate some of these themes are listed below. These examples are explained in more detail and can be found, along with further examples of good practice, in section 6.1 of this report.
During the year a large amount of the work on implementing the Act has concerned the drafting of various orders and codes of practice. The list of public authorities to which the Act applies has been extended. The codes of practice under sections 45 and 46 of the Act, which set out important procedural guidelines for public authorities when dealing with requests for information and when managing their records have been consulted upon and issued. The rules of procedure for the Information Tribunal have also been amended to give it the power to decide on complaints in respect of public authorities' publication schemes.
The Lord Chancellor's Department has been the lead department involved in drafting these items of secondary legislation, although it has consulted extensively with other government departments, the Information Commissioner and the Advisory Group on the Implementation of Freedom of Information (see Annex B). The Department has also liaised with other government departments in order to identify those items of legislation which prohibit the disclosure of information, with a view to determining whether to repeal, amend or retain each item. (see section 5)
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all bodies and office holders who are identified as public authorities in one of three ways:
The Government announced last November that the provisions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to publication schemes will come into effect this November for the first wave of public authorities. This wave comprises those bodies presently covered by the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information: that is, all government departments and those non-departmental public bodies within the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Parliamentary Ombudsman). Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 already identifies as public authorities all government departments and a significant proportion of the relevant non-departmental public bodies. But it does not include all of the latter.
Over the last year the Lord Chancellor's Department has been engaged in identifying public authorities which are currently not covered by Schedule 1 of the Act but meet the criteria below.
A section 4 order was laid on 21 October to add some of these authorities to Schedule 1, thereby requiring them to comply with the provisions of the Act at the appropriate time. Further bodies will be added in future orders. This will be an annual 'housekeeping' exercise to keep the scope of the Act up to date.
Section 45 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Lord Chancellor to issue, and from time to time revise, a code of practice setting out practices which he considers public authorities should follow in the discharge of their duties under Part I of the Act dealing with requests for information, and openness in contracts they sign. The same section sets out what the code must cover.
Working drafts of the code were circulated to government departments and other public sector organisations for comments. The Act requires that prior to laying before Parliament a code or revised code under section 45, the Lord Chancellor shall consult the Information Commissioner. Consultation with the Commissioner has taken place and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, and the First Minister of the National Assembly for Wales have also been asked for their comments. The comments received have been taken into account in finalising the code.
The code was laid before Parliament on 20 November 2002. Much of it deals with the way public authorities should handle requests for information under the general right of access, so will not be applicable until 1 January 2005. However, the section concerning the handling of complaints by public authorities also covers complaints that a public authority is perceived as not complying with its publication scheme, and so will be applicable to many public authorities, including central government departments, from 30 November. In addition, the early issue of the code enables public authorities to have a clearer idea of what is expected of them in terms of good practice in handling requests for information.
The code will be reviewed in the light of secondary legislation and guidance, and amended/augmented as necessary.
Section 46 of the Act requires the Lord Chancellor to issue, and from time to time revise, a code of practice setting out:
Working drafts of the code were prepared by the Public Record Office in consultation with other government departments. The final version reflects comments received from the wider public sector during a consultation exercise in 2000. It was also laid before Parliament on 20 November 2002.
Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act requires that before issuing or revising any code under that section, the Lord Chancellor shall consult with the Information Commissioner and, in relation to Northern Ireland, the appropriate Northern Ireland Minister. This consultation took place, and in addition, the First Minister for the National Assembly for Wales was asked for his comments. All comments were taken into account in finalising the code.
Although the Commissioner will not be able to issue a practice recommendation until the general right of access provisions come into force, there was felt to be value in issuing the code early, enabling public authorities to have a clearer idea of what is expected of them in terms of good practice in records management and the review and transfer of public records.
There are order making powers in sections 9, 12(3), (4) and (5), and 13 which enable the Lord Chancellor to make fees regulations under the Act. These regulations apply to fees which authorities may charge for dealing with a request for information under the individual right of access, and therefore must be in force by 1 January 2005. However, early availability of a final draft will be valuable to authorities in helping them to prepare for implementation of the Act.
Draft fees regulations have been circulated to government departments and other public sector organisations for both general comment and comments on specific issues, for example the precise definition of prescribed costs, in order to give more substance to the policy. The second draft of the fees regulations can be found on the LCD website at: www.lcd.gov.uk/foi/secleg.htm. Comments received are being considered and will result in a revised draft.
Work on the further development of policy in this area, a third draft of the fees regulations and development on associated guidance, will continue once the priority tasks associated with implementing the publication scheme provisions of the Act are achieved.
Amended rules of procedure have been prepared which will enable the Information Tribunal to consider appeals by public authorities against decisions of the Information Commissioner about their publication scheme. These make technical changes to the existing Data Protection Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals) Rules 2000 but do not provide for any substantial change to how the Tribunal will consider appeals.
Preparation of the rules of procedure follows a public consultation earlier in the year. The Council on Tribunals has also been consulted about the amended rules. A Statutory Instrument has been prepared and was laid before Parliament on 1 November.
A new chairman has been appointed to the Tribunal following the retirement of the previous chair. New members are being recruited to consider appeals under the freedom of information legislation.
Further amended rules of procedure will be produced in due course to enable the Tribunal to consider appeals under the Environmental Information Regulations and appeals under the full access rights provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The Government will take account of comments received during the public consultation exercise in preparing further amended rules.
There has been a right of access to environmental information since the current Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) were issued in 1992 in accordance with the European Community Directive on Public Access to Environmental Information (90/313/EEC). In July 2000 the European Commission proposed a new Directive on Public Access to Environmental Information. The draft Directive aims to implement the requirements of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention) to which the UK is a signatory.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) consulted on the EIR proposals and the draft Directive in October 2000. They have subsequently drafted new Regulations in accordance with the proposed Directive and consulted publicly on them. The consultation exercise ended in October this year.
Section 74 of the Freedom of Information Act contains an order making power to allow EIRs to be made, which implement the provisions of the of the Aarhus Convention. However the draft Regulations are designed to give effect to a similar right of access to information, and specify similar procedures for public authorities supplying the information, for example:
The duty to provide advice and assistance under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act is provided for in the Regulations.
This offence will apply equally with respect to environmental information.
There will however be some differences between the two regimes when they both come into force and their respective requirements will not overlap exactly. It is likely that some public bodies which will be subject to the Environmental Information Regulations will not be within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act because of a difference of definition in the Aarhus Convention. There are also differences in the exemptions that are to apply to requests for information. This means that wherever a refusal to supply information which relates to the environment is contemplated, the public authority will need to consider the exemptions under the appropriate regime. Also, unlike the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations apply to oral requests.
Other details of the Regulations are subject to continuing European negotiations and need to await the adoption of the Directive.
For details of existing rights under the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 see Annex D.
The Government is committed to reducing the amount of legislation which prohibits the disclosure of information. To this end, it has initiated an ongoing review to repeal or amend as many items as possible either under the order making power in section 75 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or by other legislation.
An interim report was published in May 2002 listing how many such items have been identified. This has been updated and as of November 2002 a total of 381 separate items have been identified. Of these:
No timetable has as yet been agreed for the repeal or amendment of individual items but it is likely that most will occur following full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2005.
Of the items identified for retention:
There is considerable public interest in some of the items identified, in particular:
It has been agreed that section 28 of the 1974 Act will be amended to bring it in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Repeal or amendment of the other two items will impact on a significant number of bodies and individuals. The Government will therefore consult with those likely to be affected before announcing a decision.
The review includes a number of items which provide discretion to disclose. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 will overlay these existing discretionary powers with an access right but will otherwise leave them unchanged. The Government will seek to amend or repeal as many of these items as possible.
The Government is aware that the effect of many of the items identified is to prohibit disclosure of information in perpetuity. The Government does not consider this to be desirable and will seek to introduce time limits into those items that are identified for retention.
Most of the items identified in the review so far are currently in use. The next stage of the review will include checking databases and other sources in order to identify obscure and dated items.
Legislation solely affecting Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has, with some small exceptions, not formed part of this stage of the review but will be included in the next stage.
This exercise is the first time in history that any Government has attempted in this way to list, and indeed to justify, provisions in its legislation which prohibit the disclosure of information. It fulfils part of the Government's commitment given in the White Paper Your Right to Know (1) to reduce the complexities and duplication in existing statutory and non-statutory access rights as far as possible.
1 paragraph 1.5 Your Right to Know: The Government's Proposals for a Freedom of Information Act Cm 3818 December 1997.
In November this year the first stage of the publication scheme provisions of the Act will come into force. This section reports on the progress that has been made by those public authorities which are included in the first wave of the Act's implementation, specifically all central government departments (with the exception of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office), both Houses of Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and Assembly sponsored public bodies, and those non-departmental public bodies covered by the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. All these organisations will be required to have publication schemes in place which list the classes of information that they will make publicly available.
Overall responsibility for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act rests with the Lord Chancellor as head of the department with lead responsibility for the legislation. The Lord Chancellor chairs the cabinet sub-committee on freedom of information and data protection, which has representatives from all central government departments. Two interdepartmental groups of officials continue to support the work of the ministerial committee. The Senior Group on Information Policy consists of those senior officials from across Whitehall, and the devolved administrations, who have responsibility for implementing freedom of information and data protection (DP) legislation in their organisation. The remit of the group has been expanded over the last year to include overseeing policy on privacy and data sharing issues, as well as proposed national records and archives legislation.
This continuing involvement at senior level helps not only to ensure that implementation is taken seriously within departments, but also ensures a strategic and co-ordinated approach to related issues across government. The Senior Group is supported by the Practitioner's Group on Freedom of Information. It consists of officials with knowledge and practical experience of dealing with open government issues and implementing freedom of information within their own departments. The Practitioners' Group deals with common issues relating to the implementation of the legislation and is a useful forum for sharing good practice and ensuring consistency in approach across central government. This has been of particular value in the preparation of department's publication schemes.
The Practitioners' Group also serves as the vehicle through which the Lord Chancellor's Department asks for reports on the progress made by departments in implementing freedom of information within their organisations. For this report departments were asked to comment on the progress made across a range of areas, as can be seen in the section below. Departments were also asked to provide an assurance that the NDPBs which they sponsor are aware of their responsibilities and are on track to meet their publication scheme commitments.
In addition to the two groups of officials the Lord Chancellor is also assisted by the Advisory Group on Implementation. This group, the formation of which was announced in last year's report, is made up of public sector representatives and independent experts. It advises the Lord Chancellor on the best practice to adopt and disseminate to public authorities in implementing the Act. Full details of the work of the Advisory Group over the last year appear in Annex B of this report.
Initiating the cultural change that is required to reverse the traditional premise in many public authorities that everything is secret unless otherwise stated to a position where everything is public unless it falls under a specified class of exemption is a process that will inevitably take time.
At this stage of the Act's implementation the main focus of departments and non-departmental public bodies has been on raising general awareness. This has been achieved through a variety of media such as bulletins in news letters and staff magazines, departmental intranets, as well as through more active means such as workshops and seminars.
While most departments are already embarked on a general programme of awareness raising, the majority of departments are still in the process of producing detailed training plans for their staff. Training plans need to be based on an accurate assessment of the needs of the organisation and timed to ensure maximum effectiveness. The majority of departments are planning to roll out training programmes in stages, starting with senior management (who can then cascade information to staff) and staff involved in record management. The combination of a targeted, incremental training scheme, together with general awareness raising programmes should ensure that all staff have the skills they need to deal with the requirements of the Act.
Some departments have made substantial progress in preparing their training schemes and have already started running more formal training programmes for staff. Awareness of freedom of information issues is also being built into related training programmes, including data protection and record management which is an effective way of ensuring that staff make the necessary link between these issues and that they become integral to working practices, not simply seen as an additional requirement. Several departments, including the Home Office, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs, and the Public Guardianship Office have also incorporated freedom of information issues into induction training for new staff.
It is not just through awareness raising programmes and staff training that departments are trying to initiate cultural change. Some departments have thought of creative ways to change attitudes and challenge the usual ways of doing things. Bold approaches to change such as these are a real driver for changing people's attitudes and the working practices of organisations.
| Department for Education and Skills: Training and Awareness |
| In the Department for Education and Skills (DFES) information including procedural guidance, frequently asked questions, and links to relevant external sites for freedom of information and related issues such as data protection and records management have been brought together on an intranet site called IOTA (Information Openness, Transparency and Access). There is also a 'what's new' section which enables staff to stay abreast of new guidance or changes. Guidance on IOTA is now available via an extranet facility to NDPBs. |
| Northern Ireland Office: Training |
From March 2001 to 2002, the record management and review team ran a series of FOI awareness seminars aimed at staff at all levels across the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies. Approximately two thirds of staff attended the seminars. The presentation given at these seminars is now available on the department's public folders for all staff to access. There will be a number of training initiatives in the next 18 months to help prepare for FOI access rights. All staff will attend a one-day training session on information management. The course, which has been designed by the record management and review team in consultation with the training department, will be delivered by external specialists. It will include freedom of information and data protection requirements. The importance of accurate titling and version control will also be covered. Next year the Northern Ireland Office will run a series of seminars on exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. All staff will be encouraged to attend and the presentation and any accompanying notes will be placed in the public folder. In 2004 the department plan to deliver training on FOI access rights for those staff who will be dealing with the requests. |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Training |
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have already started running formal training on openness issues including data protection and freedom of information. The length of the course has recently been increased from half a day to a whole day in order to give more time to freedom of information and Environmental Information Regulations. The training scheme is being delivered in conjunction with external consultants. So far 239 members of staff have received formal training with 15 further courses are scheduled for this financial year (another 200 plus staff) and more planned for following years. Separate registry training courses and general records awareness presentations, both run by Records and Historical Department, also include data protection and freedom of information messages. It is intended to build a freedom of information and data protection element into all relevant FCO training and develop a distance learning package for use by FCO staff overseas. The eventual aim is for all UK based FCO staff to have received some training in these areas. |
| Health and Safety Executive: Cultural Change |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commissioned an audit of staff's attitude to openness and transparency which was carried out by an external consultant. Interviews were conducted with representatives from all HSE directorates and the results of their findings have been put to the chair of the freedom of information project board. It will also be presented to the HSE board with recommendations on how to take forward measures for improvement. The audit report will subsequently be published on the HSE website. The HSE have also issued general administrative procedural guidance on how to write documents for publication on their website including how to mark material exempt from disclosure. All key policy documents are therefore written and assessed for openness and given a status marking by the author, including explanation and justification for any exempted material. |
There is a need for departments to have the requisite organisational structures in place, both for them to be able to co-ordinate implementation of the Act, and for them to deal with requests for information when the full right of access comes into force in January 2005. While some departments are already well placed to deal with these changes others have undergone significant internal restructuring. In many instances departments have decided to bring together responsibility for implementation of freedom of information with related issues such as data protection and records management. These changes are often also reflected at senior management level with a senior official taking ownership of all related information management issues. This raises the profile of such issues within departments and ensures strategic oversight of the relevant schemes of work.
As well as having organised, well placed structures within departments with clear responsibility at senior level, the size of departments, particularly those who sponsor large non-departmental public bodies means that they must also have the networks in place to ensure a co-ordinated approach across the organisation. Most departments have established links with staff at an operational level which has helped to widen the ownership of Act within the organisation, act as a route for the dissemination of good practice, and help with the development of policy. These networks will also ensure that requests for information are dealt with as efficiently as possible.
| Department for Education and Skills: Organisational responsibilities |
Since May 2002 activities at the DFES which share the common themes of openness, accountability, protection and disclosure of information have been brought together in a new team dealing with records and information openness (RIO). The RIO team is led by the departmental records officer and provides opportunities for a more coherent approach as well as a more efficient use of resources. Specifically the RIO team are responsible for policy, advice and implementation on freedom of information, data protection, and records management - including electronic records and document management. RIO forms part of the department's Information Services Division which comes under the Corporate Services and Development Directorate (CSDD). At senior level responsibility for all information issues lies with the Director-General for CSDD who is the department's e-government champion, chair of the FOI publication scheme project board, and chair of the electronic documents and records management project board. |
| Department for International Development: Organisational Responsibilities |
At the Department for International Development (DFID) the implementation of freedom of information at operational level sits with the Open Government Unit within the Information and Civil Society Department. The Open Government Unit lead on freedom of information, data protection issues and records management. DFID is in the process of appointing a new Director of Information to which Information and Civil Society will report. Her/his new directorate will draw together oversight of knowledge sharing, information management, IT systems, IT, records management and open government issues. Strategy and performance in these areas are set by DFID's Knowledge and Communications Committee, one of four sub-committees of the management board, on which a cross section of senior management sit. In the current structure and division of responsibilities the Open Government Unit is well placed within Information and Civil Society Department to contribute to the development of DFID's electronic documents and records management (EDRM) system. The Unit's reporting officer is also responsible for developing DFID's knowledge sharing strategy. |
| Department for Work and Pensions: Structures |
At the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) all activity required to implement the Act is undertaken by the Adjudication and Constitutional Issues Division, in consultation with representatives from the department's agencies and NDPBs (focal points), ensuring robust administrative processes are in place to facilitate the smooth handling and monitoring of freedom of information requests. A network of such focal points already exists, building upon structures in place for giving advice to field staff and handling requests under the code of practice. Adjudication and Constitutional Issues are supported by the Departmental Data Protection Unit (DDPU) who will become the first point of contact once fully trained. Following major re-organisation within DWP, including taking responsibility for Employment Services offices, they are currently identifying additional focal points from Jobcentre plus. In addition to the focal points they are setting up a network of information officers at local level by expanding the responsibilities of existing local data protection officers. |
| Health and Safety Executive: Structures (Networks) |
The freedom of information implementation programme in the Health and Safety Executive includes the programme board, a project team, and a user group with representatives from all Directorates in the organisation. They have also set up a network of freedom of information and data protection contacts within each Directorate, and Nominated Open Government Inspectors (NOGIs), based in their regional offices. These officials are the experts for their respective Directorate and are monitored centrally by the External Engagement Branch. They ensure co-ordination, forwarding external requests for information as appropriate, and consulting others such as EEB and legal advisers, where necessary. The organisation has also appointed disclosure officers in all their regional offices to deal with regional requests for disclosure of information under the code, FOI, DP, EIR and Health and Safety at Work Act. |
Closely related to the need for departments to have efficient organisational structures is the need for them to have suitable administrative procedures in place, both to ensure that publication scheme commitments are met, and that departments meet the requirement of dealing with all requests within 20 working days of receipt.
Because of the amount of information which departments regularly produce they need to have the mechanisms in place to make sure that if information falls within one of the classes specified in their publication scheme they publish it in the requisite format and in a timely fashion. Where this material was previously unpublished departments may think about putting in place new procedures in order to 'trigger' publication. Many departments are still in the process of developing procedural guidance on how to ensure their publication scheme commitments are met. Some however are looking at putting in place new content management systems for managing databases and electronically published material.
For the majority of departments procedures for handling freedom of information requests are still to be determined, although there are a variety of proposed approaches reflecting the different needs and size of departments. Some departments are planning to adapt the existing arrangements for dealing with requests under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and will initially at least have some central co-ordination of requests for information in order to assess the level and type of demand. Other departments, notably the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office are planning for requests for information to be dealt with at a local level by the relevant policy official because the of the wide range of departmental responsibility.
Whichever way departments choose to deal with requests it is important that they have a system for recording and monitoring requests for information. This will not only ensure that requests are dealt with promptly and efficiently, but will also enable departments to see the kinds of requests that are made. This may in turn prompt them to publish material pro-actively, both serving the needs of the public, and reducing their own workload.
| Department for International Development: Monitoring |
DFID are creating a publications database to ensure that all their published material enters the publication scheme. In order to trigger publication of previously unpublished material, they have (i) briefed the secretaries of DFID's top committees on their role and responsibilities and (ii) designated a publication scheme officer in Open Government Unit to ensure that the publication scheme is kept up to date with material available on DFID's intranet. In addition, the specification for their forthcoming EDRM system will require users to mark documents entering the system with an open government status and possibly trigger a 'workflow' to have the document posted on the FOI scheme. |
| Department of Health: Monitoring |
Since FOI requests could be received at any point within the department a major infrastructural correspondence management system is being developed that will allow all staff to log information requests on receipt and record progress in responding to them. The system will help to enforce the time limits on providing responses, and will provide a fast track channel for referring complex cases to the FOI unit and, if necessary, to lawyers. |
| HM Treasury: Monitoring |
In accordance with their current monitoring system for open government requests HM Treasury plan to keep a log of requests to obtain information on the people who have an interest in the information they hold, what subjects people are most interested in, and how much it costs to respond to requests. The log will also enable them to track cases to see when replies are due and whether target dates have been met. |
The requirement for departments to adopt publication schemes has the potential to act as a real catalyst in promoting openness across Government. Most public authorities in the first wave have submitted their publication schemes to the Information Commissioner for approval. It is likely therefore that the majority of schemes will be approved by the Commissioner by 30 November.
Some departments already make a large amount of information publicly available. While the publication schemes should serve to categorise material that is already available, the challenge is for departments to make public information that was previously unavailable. Some departments have taken a thorough approach to the preparation of their publication schemes and carried out information audits and public consultation exercises to ensure that they make public as much material as possible.
| Crown Estate: Publication Schemes |
The Crown Estate carried out an audit of information resources in June 2002 to help in devising their publication scheme. There was also an assessment of information requests currently being received and a review of whether the public interest would be served by pro-actively providing each class of information within the publication scheme. A Working Group was set up to help with this work comprising a range of staff from within the organisation as well as an external consultant. Many previously unpublished classes of information have been made available by the Crown Estate including the inventory of works of art and antiques owned by the Crown Estate, current terms of reference and structure of the committees and the board, current corporate membership, business planning and control cycles, human resources policies and procedures, internal audit policies and procedures, declaration of interest, Windsor estate policies and procedures, organisational chart and departmental structures and functions. |
| Case study: Learning the lessons from a pilot publication scheme |
The Advisory Group on Implementation has also heard presentations on experience gained with pilot publication schemes under the Act. A speaker from the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which had drawn up a pilot publication scheme in the autumn of 2001, addressed the July meeting of the Group. The MOD had wished to participate in the pilot precisely because the challenges for it, in both organisational and cultural terms, were recognised to be significant. It had been a valuable exercise for the department and the lessons it had learnt in developing a publication scheme and could pass on to other authorities included: the need to recognise that the work preparing a scheme is labour intensive; the importance of promoting an understanding of the Act - in particular the statutory commitment to publish the material described in the scheme - at a senior level within the organisation; that compliance with this obligation would require awareness throughout the rest of the organisation; and recognition that culture change would take time. The MOD felt that producing the pilot had shown that a publication scheme would improve internal working practices, and it was therefore important for this potential business benefit to be recognised. |
| Case study: Meeting users needs and building a culture of openness |
The Advisory Group has been the stimulus for a joint initiative of the Newspaper Society and the Lord Chancellor. This built on the suggestion in the Information Commissioner's guidance that authorities should consult the public when considering what classes of information to include in their publication scheme. The Newspaper Society contacted regional newspaper companies, recommending to their editors of regional and local newspapers that they should conduct an analysis of information their publication had previously unsuccessfully sought from different authorities in their area which they thought should normally be freely available. Supported by an open letter to public authorities from the Lord Chancellor, endorsing the suggestion in the Commissioner's guidance, the Society urged editors to write to chief executives of public authorities, asking them when they would be likely to begin consultation on the contents of their publication scheme, enclosing the results of their analysis where appropriate and their own suggestions. The Lord Chancellor's letter made clear the results of the Newspaper Society's initiative would be fed back to him via the Advisory Group. There has been substantial interest from newspapers in taking the initiative forward. One regional newspaper group organised a day long seminar for its editors on the initiative, addressed by speakers from the Commissioner's office, the police and members of the Advisory Group. Other regional newspaper groups included dedicated sections on freedom of information, given by members of the Advisory Group, in their group conferences for their editors. It is hoped that the initiative will, by stimulating an open dialogue and consultation on the contents of publication schemes not only encourage authorities to address the needs of users of the Act, but also be a small step towards achieving one of the broader aims of the FOI Act: to increase public trust in the authorities which govern and provide services to them. |
The Modernising Government White Paper sets a target of 2004 for all government departments and agencies to manage their records electronically (2). Many departments are consequently reviewing their records management procedures both to meet this requirement and ensure that procedures meet the requirements laid down in the section 46 code of practice (see section 4.3 of this report).
Good records management is an integral part of the infrastructure which will assist departments to carry out their duties under the Act. While a few departments were rated as 'amber' or 'flashing amber' in the latest assessment of the 2004 ERM target by the Public Record Office many more have been given a 'green' light which indicates that they are on course to meet the target.Some departments already make a large amount of information publicly available. While the publication schemes should serve to categorise material that is already available, the challenge is for departments to make public information that was previously unavailable. Some departments have taken a thorough approach to the preparation of their publication schemes and carried out information audits and public consultation exercises to ensure that they make public as much material as possible.
2 Prior to its suspension this target did not apply to the Northern Ireland Executive.
| Lord Chancellor's Department: Records Management |
The Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) is making good progress towards providing electronic records management (ERM) facilities for staff in LCD headquarters, the associated offices and the Court Service headquarters. These will bring significant improvements in efficiency and working practices, including responding to FOI requests. The Public Record Office regularly reviews the performance of all departments and , in its latest assessment, has awarded LCD a 'green traffic light'. In February and March this year LCD ran a pre-pilot of a proposed record management system called TRIM with a sister product called Topdraw. The project team and the other participants in the pilot gained a significant insight into the proposed product which will assist the Department in meeting its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act by making better use of the information contained in official records, e.g. allowing users to access files for research, and to build on previous experience. A pilot involving a policy decision will commence in November, lessons learnt from the pilot will be built into implementation plans for full rollout, which is planned for 2003. |
| Office of the Deputy Prime Minister/Department for Transport: Records Management |
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Department for Transport (DfT) already have established records management procedures using hierarchical file series based on organisational units. These procedures have been checked against the code of practice to ensure consistency. A single records catalogue of all ODPM and DfT records is being completed. The former Department for Transport, London and the Regions (DTLR) had green light status against the 2004 milestones achieved through the introduction of accredited-shared drives (ASDS). The programme of rolling out ASDS is continuing in both ODPM and DfT. The departments are planning to begin the introduction of a full EDRM system from 2003 onwards. The statement of requirement covers compliance with freedom of information. The focus is on the centre of the departments with the position of the Government Offices and agencies currently under consideration. |
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for making sure that government departments and those NDPBs subject to the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information make the necessary preparations for the implementation of the Act. The Houses of Parliament are not covered by the code of practice but are listed as separate bodies under the Act who must bear their own responsibility for implementation.
The House of Lords publication scheme has been approved by the Information Commissioner. Awareness raising training sessions have been held for freedom of information and data protection co-ordinators and heads of offices. Freedom of information, data protection and records management issues have also been incorporated into the induction programme for House of Lords' staff.
The House of Lords Record Office (the Parliamentary Archives) has continued to make progress in implementing the Parliamentary records management strategy which will play an important role in supporting successful implementation of freedom of information.
Key areas for the House of Lords working group in 2003 will be issues relating to the interaction with data protection and supporting the continuing implementation of the Parliamentary records management strategy in the House of Lords.
The House of Commons publication scheme was approved by the Information Commissioner early in July 2002, and is available on the parliament website. Some further classes of information will be added to the scheme in 2003. It is expected that most enquiries about the publication scheme will be handled by the House of Commons Information Office. A series of training seminars will be held in autumn 2002, primarily for staff in the Information Office, to ensure that they are aware of the publication scheme and their responsibilities to the public under the Act.
The House of Commons appointed a freedom of information officer in 2001. The preparation of the publication scheme was managed by the House of Commons freedom of information working group, a group of senior Commons officials that includes the freedom of information officer and is chaired by the Clerk of the Journals. This group will continue to meet at regular intervals over the coming year. Key objectives will include overseeing the implementation of records management procedures in all House departments, identifying additional material for the publication scheme and beginning the development of policy for compliance with the individual rights of access.
The UK Freedom of Information Act does not apply to Scottish public authorities - the Scottish Parliament has recently enacted their own freedom of information legislation - although the Act applies in Scotland to UK wide bodies, or bodies which have no devolved functions. The Act does however apply to Wales and Northern Ireland. Both these devolved administrations were asked to provide details of the progress made in the same way as UK government departments. It should be noted that this report covers a period when the Northern Ireland Executive was in operation.
Both the devolved administrations have been involved in a range of activities to prepare for the implementation of the Act, from preparing publication schemes to restructuring records management procedures. The National Assembly for Wales in particular has demonstrated its commitment to increasing openness and transparency in government by launching a pilot scheme to enable publication of the facts on which ministers base their decisions.
| Department for Regional Development (NI): Records Management |
The Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland have two projects specifically aimed at addressing record management. The first is an information audit project and the second is an electronic document and record management (EDRM) project . The information audit will use advice provided by the Public Record Office (NI) and central guidance being developed within the Northern Ireland Civil Service. The EDRM project will address both the 2004 ERM target and freedom of information requirements. This project will link to a separate project, running in parallel, aimed at establishing effective and robust file/record management procedures. The department has already conducted an EDRM pilot scheme within one of their business units and are planning a second more extensive pilot within one of the agencies. |
| National Assembly for Wales: Cultural Change |
In line with the provisions contained within the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and with the First Minister's open government commitments, the Welsh Assembly Government is currently piloting a new process that will enable the facts upon which ministers make decisions to be published openly on a routine basis. The pilot will provide ministers with information about the effectiveness of the proposed process and identify areas where further work needs to take place to ensure the aims of the project are met. Following completion of the initial pilot phase of this project, the information will be used as the basis for developing a training and support package that will be implemented across the Assembly. The Welsh Assembly Government will make the results of the project available for information once the project is completed. |
| National Assembly for Wales: Publication Schemes |
The National Assembly for Wales carried out an information audit as a first step on which to base an initial draft of the scheme. The draft was refined and put out to full public consultation. Key groups were written to directly asking them to comment. An external copywriter was employed to draft user-friendly explanations and to make sure that the scheme was written in plain English. The scheme was then revised and re-drafted incorporating all feedback and then put around policy groups for final checking. Consultation responses were addressed and information incorporated into the scheme. The scheme will be delivered in two main ways. Firstly, via the internet where a copy of the scheme will be found on the new 'publications' page of the Assembly website. The scheme will be fully hyperlinked to enable the quick location of electronic documents and supported by a publications catalogue to search hard-copy documents. People will be able to access the scheme electronically from local libraries via the information link and also from all Assembly regional offices. Secondly, the scheme will be published in hard copy. Copies will be sent to all libraries, citizens advice bureaux, further education and higher education institutions and all the organisations that were involved in the consultation exercise (these organisations being representative of over 3000 bodies). Copies will also be available from the Assembly's publications centre where people will also be able to visit, telephone, fax or e-mail to request publications. The scheme is available in both English and Welsh. |
Those public authorities classified as local government for the purposes of the Act are listed in Part II of Schedule 1 of the Act. This includes all local authorities within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1972 as well as other bodies such as fire authorities and magistrate court committees. All authorities covered by Part II of Schedule 1 are required to have their publication schemes in place by February 2003.
Much of the preparatory work in this sector has been done by the Office of the Information Commissioner in conjunction with the Local Government Association (LGA) and the National Association of Local Councils (NALC). These are the umbrella organisations for principal councils (large local authorities) and local councils (parish, town, and community councils) respectively.
In order to prepare local authorities for the need to issue publication schemes the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Local Government Association have been supporting and monitoring seven pilot schemes during the course of this year (see also section 5.1). The pilot schemes have been set up across the range of different types of local authority - county, district, metropolitan district, and London borough. A paper providing feedback and observations on the pilots was published by the Local Government Association and Office of the Information Commissioner in July, and the authorities involved are sharing their work with others as they develop their draft schemes.
The Local Government Association plays an active role in disseminating information to local authorities through features in the weekly newspaper for all councillors in England and Wales, as well as through updates on their website. The corporate implications of freedom of information have been raised in personal letters form the LGA's Chairman and Chief Executive to local authority leaders and chief executives respectively. A briefing paper, prepared for the LGA by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, on the corporate implications of the Act was published by the LGA in August this year.
The Local Government Association has also encouraged authorities and government to identify the links between freedom of information and the e-government agenda, both to enhance their delivery of information services, and improve their openness and democratic processes. A number of authorities are explicitly making that link, and tying in publication scheme preparation to wider programmes of work on implementing e-government. The LGA hope to show the connection in the forthcoming publication in conjunction with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on a national strategy for local e-government.
In September this year the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a consultation paper Access to Information in Local Government which will serve to raise the profile of the Act and draw attention to issues of importance to local authorities. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to set up a review group in autumn 2002 which will analyse responses to the consultation paper and look at any issues which are raised.
A range of awareness raising conferences, workshops and training courses for local authority staff have taken place across the country. Professional bodies in local government, amongst them the national conference of local authority communications officers and the national liaison group of local authority lawyers have organised events and set up training and information sharing initiatives. There have also been sessions at various conferences for chief executives, monitoring officers and senior managers.
Because of the diversity of local government bodies each individual authority will adopt a training and awareness strategy appropriate to the size and needs of their organisation. The work that has so far been done across the sector illustrates the range of different approaches. Authorities in Cheshire have worked together to prepare training materials for use locally, tailored to their local circumstances. Some authorities have prepared briefing notes disseminated via the intranet for staff while others have working groups and information audit exercises involving staff from across the authority.
A substantial piece of work has been undertaken by the local government group of the Records Management Society of Great Britain, developing draft retention schedules for local authority records. The Public Record Office is working with records managers in local authorities, raising awareness and advising on implementing the model action plan.
The Office of the Information Commissioner has also worked closely with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) to produce a model publication scheme for local councils (see section 6.3). The model scheme was approved by the Information Commissioner at the end of August 2002 and disseminated to local councils at the beginning of September. NALC are now working with member councils to encourage adoption of the model scheme or are alternatively providing guidance to those councils who have decided to produce their own bespoke schemes.
Prior to the Freedom of Information Act the various local government acts gave electors the right to inspect orders for payment, financial statement or abstract of accounts, any auditors reports, council minutes and committee minutes laid before the council for approval (see Annex D section 5). These were the only documents which a local council could be required to produce on demand. The model publication scheme includes a significant amount of other information which was not previously routinely available.
NALC has already sent out specific guidance/briefings on the implications of the Act. Further step by step guidance on how to seek approval of a publication scheme will be sent out very shortly.
The third wave of the publication scheme requirements of the Act covers the police, police authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and the Armed Forces.
The police have been a good example of an organisation which takes its duties under the Freedom of Information Act seriously and the Information Commissioner has commended them for the amount of preparatory work that they have done. Responsibility for implementation lies at senior level with the Association of Chief Police Officers, and the importance they have attached to the Act has been a key factor in driving forward the necessary preparations.
In order to oversee the implementation of the Act the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have set up a freedom of information project board. The project is being managed in accordance with PRINCE Version II methodology and a project team based in Winchester is co-ordinating the implementation of the Act of a national level. The national team are in regular contact with nominated liaison officers in every force and have firmly established themselves as the single point of reference for the police service.
In conjunction with Office for the Information Commissioner the ACPO Project Team developed a draft model publication scheme which they launched in April 2002. They sought feedback on this scheme both by placing it on a nationally secure police network for viewing purposes, and by holding two consultation forums. In total seventeen forces provided formal feedback. The ACPO project board ratified the proposed model at their meeting on 19 September 2002 and have submitted the model scheme for the Information Commissioner's approval. The Hampshire Constabulary will pilot the model publication scheme as soon as it is approved.
In addition to preparing the model publication scheme the ACPO Project Team organised a series of four awareness seminars across the country. Representatives from all 43 forces in England and Wales attended, as well as staff from a number of police authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service, and representatives from a number of Scottish police forces. The seminars were well received by attendees and provided an opportunity for the launch of the model publication scheme, as well as emphasising the need to prepare for compliance with the Act.
All attendees at the seminars were issued with a 'freedom of information compliance toolkit' to assist and guide individual forces with their implementation. It contains, amongst other things, a model action plan to achieve compliance in respect of records management. This recommended that each force should identify someone to have specific responsibility for the introduction, development and maintenance of freedom of information obligations and associated information management. It also suggested that forces consider appointing an information manager to co-ordinate these activities.
In the Crown Prosecution Service awareness-raising presentations have already been given to all senior managers. They are in the process of giving further presentations across England and Wales to cross-sections of staff. The records management manual has also been updated to provide guidance for compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
The Crown Prosecution Service is in the process of deciding what material to include in their publication scheme and have undertaken an information audit. A range of guidance to prosecutors concerning prosecution policy is to be made open for the first time as well as various documents governing internal CPS business and human resources policies, future plans, protocols and agreements, performance management information and minutes of meetings. The content of the publication scheme will be reviewed annually post publication.
Preparations for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act are also underway at the Serious Fraud Office. Senior management board officials are regularly updated on freedom of information issues by way of written and verbal reports. Staff in the Knowledge Management and Information Systems Unit have attended conferences and courses, and all staff have received a memorandum raising awareness of freedom of information.
The Serious Fraud Office has improved and updated its records management policy for live and archived information. The office is working to meet the government's directive for electronic records management and is running a number of pilots on handling material. Initial preparations are also underway to select the material which will form the contents of the publication scheme.
In practice, the Armed Forces and the MOD Police operate as part of the Ministry of Defence, and this has been reflected by their full involvement in MOD's Freedom of Information Act implementation programme. They will publish information through MOD's publication scheme, thereby providing the public with a single point of call for information on defence related issues, and they are also actively involved in the work being carried out to prepare MOD for the introduction of the general right of access in January 2005.
The National Health Service (NHS) makes up the fourth wave of implementation of the publication scheme requirements of the Act. All NHS bodies will have to have a scheme in place by October 2003. NHS bodies currently respond to requests for access to information within the terms of the Code of Practice on Openness in the NHS, which will continue to apply until January 2005 (see Annex D, Section 2). As NHS bodies are used to responding to requests for information the structures and mechanisms they already have in place means they are well placed to meet the needs of the Freedom of Information Act.
In the National Health Service, the South East London Strategic Health Authority is taking the lead nationally in implementing freedom of information. It will be involved in the development of a pilot publication scheme which will serve as a template for use by other Strategic and Special Health Authorities. Work has also begun to develop model publication schemes for use by Primary Care Trusts, Acute Trusts and Mental Health Trusts. Both model schemes are expected to be available for use in March 2003.
Discussions are under way to determine the best approach to supporting the large numbers of independent contractors, including GPs, community pharmacists, dentists and opticians, who will need to comply with the Act. In the meantime, communications are planned to alert NHS Trusts and Health Authorities to their responsibilities under the Act, and to advise them on preparatory work they should be undertaking now.
In terms of the requirements that the Act will have on records management the NHS is also relatively well prepared, due to ongoing work to improve records management procedures. HSC 1999/053 made recommendations for a records management strategy identifying the resources needed to ensure that the records of all types (administrative as well as medical) are properly controlled; readily accessible and available for use; and eventually archived or otherwise disposed of. This work has been supported further by the controls assurance standard on records management.
The implementation of freedom of information in the NHS is being overseen by a project board, comprising chief executives who are prepared to pilot the model publication schemes in their trusts, together with representatives of the Office of the Information Commissioner, the NHS Confederation and the Department of Health.
There are three parts to the education sector - schools, further education and higher education. Work on developing a model publication scheme in the areas of further and higher education is being undertaken by a working group set up by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). This is a strategic advisory committee which works on behalf of the funding bodies for further and higher education in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Commissioner began advising on the work of this group during July 2002. Work has only recently begun because of the priority given to the earlier waves of public authorities that are subject to the Act. The deadline for approval by the Information Commissioner for the education sector publication schemes is 29 February 2004, although the Office of the Information Commissioner intend to have the model publication schemes complete by autumn 2003. A member of this group has set up four 'regional workshops' to take place during October and November in Cardiff, London, Manchester and Belfast. The Commissioner has committed a speaker to each of these events to give a presentation on publication schemes and moderate a workshop.
Work has also begun to produce a model publication scheme for primary and secondary schools in accordance with sections 19 and 20 of the Act. The Office of the Information Commissioner and the Department for Education and Skills and have begun discussions to outline the implications of this process for schools in England. After this meeting the Office of the Information Commissioner will endeavour to undertake the same work for schools in Northern Ireland.
Following the announcement of the timetable for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act by the Lord Chancellor in November 2001 the main focus of the work of the Information Commissioner has been on helping authorities develop their publication schemes. Another key strand of the Commissioner's work over the last year has been to help raise awareness of the Freedom of Information Act among public authorities.
The staffing establishment of the Office of the Information Commissioner has grown by approximately 50 people over the last 12 months in line with the projected increase for the period to 2005. Not all these staff are working on freedom of information, but many are, including expanded public sector compliance teams, a senior policy manager, in-house lawyers and a team (initially comprising six staff but to grow over the coming year) to handle the approval of publication schemes.
Specific guidance on publication schemes was issued by the Information Commissioner in February 2002. This included initial guidance for authorities on fulfilling the legal obligation to adopt and maintain a scheme, and demonstrated the Commissioner's approach to the content of scheme and classes of information. The guidance was supported by a methodology document which offered public authorities a range of practical suggestions on how to devise a scheme. Amongst other things it highlighted the importance of identifying the key personnel to be involved, and the need for careful consideration in constructing the classes of information to be published.
Over the course of the year the Commissioner has worked closely with the pilot authorities who have each developed their own approach to a publication scheme for their organisations. At central government level five departments or agencies produced schemes which were all published by early 2002. The Commissioner also has worked closely with the Local Government Association and the seven local authorities who have developed publication schemes (see section 6.2.1) The diversity of the authorities in terms of size, community and functional responsibility has again led to a variety of approaches.
Some authorities have commented on the lack of a unified model scheme for local authorities. However, the work of the pilots has shown that a 'one size fits all' approach is not appropriate for principal councils and the Commissioner has stressed the importance of each authority ensuring that the scheme it adopts is appropriate to its own local needs and is deliverable in practice.
The Commissioner has adopted a different approach with regards to Parish Councils in recognition of their more limited remit. A model scheme suitable for all Parish Councils has been developed in conjunction with the National Association of Local Councils and has subsequently been approved (see section 6.2.1).
Elsewhere model schemes for Fire Authorities, Drainage Boards and Port Health Authorities have also been approved and other model schemes for smaller sectors within local government are also being developed. The Commissioner has taken a consistent approach in requiring clear expression of interest from the particular sector for the development of a model scheme, supported by representatives who can provide the necessary knowledge and experience.
The work of the Association of Chief Police Officers' project team on FOI has been exemplary in this regard (see section 6.2.2), and the Commissioner has been pleased to be involved in the development of a model scheme, particularly through participation in a national conference programme and through membership of the project's quality assurance board.
Initiatives are also underway within the National Health Service (see section 6.2.3). The Commissioner is involved with various training events and is represented on the Department of Health project board.
All this work will develop across the public sector over the coming year.
Raising awareness of the Freedom of Information Act among public authorities has been a key activity of the Commissioner throughout the year, and will continue to be so during the implementation period.
Around 200 speaking engagements have been undertaken by the Commissioner and her staff on freedom of information issues in the 12 months covered by this report. These have included major national public sector conferences, all the Lord Chancellor's ministerial roadshows (see section 6.5 of this report) and a range of formal seminars arranged by public authorities, professional associations or private sector consultants. They have also included practical workshops taking public sector officials through case studies.
In September 2002 the Office of the Information Commissioner designed and delivered a 2-day conference on freedom of information that was organised and hosted by the Chief Executives' Forum in Northern Ireland. This was attended by 70 delegates from the full range of public authorities in Northern Ireland. The initial responses were favourable and detailed feedback is being analysed to inform the content and style of future events.
The Public Record Office (PRO) has focused on supporting records managers and archivists in their work on preparing for implementation of freedom of information.
The PRO has worked with the university sector to produce a model action plan for higher education institutions and with the Association of Chief Police Officers to produce one for police forces. Both plans can be accessed from the PRO website, as can the plans for central and local government produced in 2001. A model action plan for NHS health authorities should be released by the end of the year and one for schools will follow next year.
The PRO has provided speakers on records management to a number of major conferences on freedom of information. It has also been represented on the panel at the FOI roadshows around the country organised by the Lord Chancellor's Department (see section 6.5), where clarification of the records management code and guidance on records management generally was offered in answering questions from the floor.
The PRO has continued its partnership with the Society of Archivists to provide training days on FOI around the country. These events are designed specifically for records managers and archivists in the public sector and are intended to explain the implications of the Act for them and provide an opportunity for issues of concern to be raised and discussed. It was decided right from the start that the events should visit as many parts of the UK as possible, partly to reduce the cost of attendance for those based outside London and partly to foster local networking. In the last year events have taken place in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Newcastle, and more are planned for next year.
Separate half-day workshops have been organised for records managers in central government. They focus on achieving compliance with the records management code and have been attended by nearly 300 records staff in central government. A further series of these workshops will be held in 2003. The PRO is planning a conference about records management in local government in Spring 2003 and the FOI implications for records management will feature in the programme.
A number of working parties have been set up by different parts of the public sector to collaborate on implementation work and the PRO is represented on some of them. An example is the working party set up by the National Museum Directors Conference which has developed a model publication scheme for museums and galleries.
The PRO intends to publish a guide to the Act aimed at records managers and archivists. A similar guide to the Data Protection Act was published in 2000 and proved popular with the records/archivists community; it is hoped that the FOI guide will achieve similar success.
The Modernising Government White Paper sets out a target for government departments and agencies (3) to have established the capabilities necessary for managing their electronic records by 2004. The implementation of electronic records management (ERM) will put in place the necessary infrastructure not only to encourage the more efficient management and exploitation of electronic information and underpin the delivery of electronic services, but also to support compliance with the requirements of freedom of information and other information policy legislation. Departments will be able to quickly identify records which they hold across the organisation, and to locate and retrieve them with speed. Importantly, ERM will manage the full lifecycle of records from creation to disposal, to ensure that records are kept for as long as needed, and are disposed of according to established business rules when they no longer have any continuing business or historical value.
The PRO has the responsibility for overseeing achievement of the cross-government 2004 target, and has set out a framework timetable and milestones, which tie in well with those set out in the code of practice on records management. These include development of corporate records policies and an inventory listing existing collections of electronic records and documents, as well as the design and implementation of new ERM technologies. The PRO supports achievement of each milestone with practical toolkits, and has established an evaluations scheme for commercial software products against UK government requirements. The aim is that on completion, government organisations possess an integrated set of policies, procedures and technologies to support effective corporate-wide electronic records management. In practice, the management of existing paper-based records will often also benefit from this modernisation process.
Significant progress has been made in this area over the last year, and many departments have come a long way in strengthening their position on ERM. A number of central departments are well advanced in implementation of ERM systems, most have well developed plans and strategies, and have specified their requirements and embarked on pilot projects. Often this is being done as part of an integrated programme of work in information management, aiming to support effective delivery of departmental business objectives.
The PRO monitors progress across government and reports separately to the Lord Chancellor. The PRO will continue to provide support and guidance for departments, and to develop the general infrastructure for records management. In particular, work will continue to improve standards for compatibility in the exchange of government records, and to tackle the implications of greater data sharing between departments.
As part of a programme to raise awareness about the Freedom of Information Act across the public sector, officials at the Lord Chancellor's Department organised a series of regional roadshows at ten locations across the country. The seminars were free of charge and were aimed at those chief executives and senior managers in regional public authorities who will be responsible for implementing the Act in their organisations.
The seminars were led by Michael Wills MP, a former Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, in conjunction with senior officials. Although designed to raise the profile of the Act and the general issues surrounding freedom of information the emphasis of the seminars was essentially practical. It was stressed that compliance with the Act will require significant changes to the working practices of public authorities and should be integrated into normal business practice and systems at an early stage in the implementation process. Successful implementation of the Act complements and reinforces good business practices and will help in providing good customer service.
As well as being a forum for disseminating information these events also gave people the opportunity to ask questions about what the Act would mean for them. Each seminar featured a question and answer session with a panel of experts including representatives from the Lord Chancellor's Department, DEFRA, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Public Record Office, and the Advisory Group on Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Around 700 people attended these seminars, from a range of different organisations including local authorities, NHS trusts, various agencies, and other public bodies such as universities. Over half of those who attended the events completed feedback forms. Of those, over 90% said that the seminars were valuable events with an effective format, providing ample opportunity for them to ask questions. They, or other members of their staff, would also attend similar events in the future. The question and answer sessions were a particular success.
These events have fulfilled an important role in opening a dialogue between government and senior leaders from across the public sector. They have also played a part in demonstrating the government's commitment to ensuring effective implementation of the Act.
3 Prior to its suspension this target did not apply to the Northern Ireland Executive.