§ Annette BrookeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will outline the timetable for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for(a) Government Departments and (b) local government. [4255]
§ Mr. WillsThe Freedom of Information Act received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000 and it must be fully implemented by 30 November 2005. However, the Government intend to implement the Act, so far as is practicable, well within the statutory five years. While, as yet, there is no timetable other than that outer date, the Lord Chancellor will have a statutory duty to report to Parliament on the progress made towards implementation, by 30 November.
There is a parallel to be drawn here between the Freedom of Information Act and the Human Rights Act 1998. Time was taken to make sure that the Human Rights Act was implemented properly, in spite of criticism at the time, and the Act's, eventual implementation was a resounding success with the time having been put to good use.
The Freedom of Information Act similarly imposes rigorous duties on over 50.000 bodies across the public sector and so even greater care needs to be taken with its implementation. I am confident that the time taken for implementation of the Act will lead to a great success in this Government's aim to create more open government.