§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Williams of Mostyn of 18 June (WA 57), what are their reasons for abandoning the proposal contained in their White Paper, Your Right to Know, Cm 3818, December 1997, paragraph 2.18, that the Freedom of Information Bill would contain a general requirement for public authorities to publish reasons for administrative decisions to those affected by them. [HL3213]
§ Lord Williams of MostynWe decided not to provide a statutory requirement for public authorities to publish reasons for administrative decisions to those affected by them because we consider that this is more appropriately addressed by the developing administrative law jurisprudence, which fully takes account of the requirement of fairness between the decision maker and the person affected.
Of course, reasons for administrative decisions will usually be information to which an applicant will have a right of access under the draft Bill, subject to the terms of the Bill.