§ Lord Hoyleasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they will publish the draft code of practice to be made under Clause 44 of the Freedom of Information Bill. [HL1881]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton)My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today placed a copy of a working draft of the code of practice in the Library and a copy will be placed on the Home Office website.
Clause 44 of the Freedom of Information Bill requires the Secretary of State to issue, and from time to time revise, a code of practice setting out practices which he considers public authorities should follow in 120WA discharge of their duties in relation to Part I of the Bill. It specifies particular matters which must be included in the code such as the assistance that should be given to applicants and procedures for dealing with complaints.
The matters to be included in the code are administrative ones that are an important part of good practice. They form an important part of the overall scheme for dealing with requests for information.