§ Norman BakerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) on what date he expects the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to come into force; and if he will make a statement; [6022]
47W(2) if he will set out the programme in place, giving date targets where appropriate, for achieving implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.[6021]
§ Mr. WillsThe Freedom of Information Act received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000 and, by section 87(3), has to be fully implemented by the 30 November 2005. However, the Government are committed to the implementation of the Act before this deadline. The Lord Chancellor also has a statutory duty to report to Parliament by 29 November this year on his proposals for bringing fully into force those provisions that are not yet fully in force.
In his appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee on 16 October, the Lord Chancellor outlined the two possible approaches to implementation. A 'Sector by Sector' approach would mean implementing the Act in stages, by type of public authority, with publications schemes provisions implemented first and the right of access following, say, six months later. The alternative is a 'Big Bang' approach, under which the publication scheme provisions are rolled out, by type of public authority, and the individual's right of access to all public authorities commences at the end of that complete process. The Government are considering which of these two to adopt.
Some parts of the Act are already in force. The provisions of the Act set out in section 87(1) came into force on 30 November 2000, when the Act was passed. These provisions relate mainly to the work of the Information Commissioner, the coverage of the Act and Order making powers. The provisions set out in section 87(2) of the Act came into force on 30 January 2001. These relate primarily to the creation of the post of the Information Commissioner. Provisions relating to the amendment of the Data Protection Act, as provided for by the Freedom of Information Act, were also brought into force by Commencement Order in Statutory Instrument 2001 Number 1637, on 30 April 2001.
The Government are determined that the time taken to implement the Act will be used well to ensure that the Act is a success. There is a parallel to be drawn here between the Freedom of Information Act and the Human Rights Act. Time was taken to ensure that the Human Rights Act was implemented properly. This meant that, despite criticism at the time, the implementation of the Act has been considered a success.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many officials and what reasons are deployed to secure implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000(a) in his Department and (b) elsewhere in Government [6024]
§ Mr. WillsWithin the Lord Chancellor's Department there is a Division devoted to central policy on Freedom of Information and Data Protection. It has a delegated budget of approximately £310,000 for work on Freedom of Information. In addition, the Division has allocated a grant in aid, for this financial year, to the Information Commissioner of £2 million, for her responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).
Each Public Authority is responsible for the implementation of the Act within its own jurisdiction and therefore, there are a number of staff involved in the 48W implementation of the Act in the Lord Chancellor's Department itself, as well as in its Agencies and Associated Offices, as there are in other Departments.
Key staff in each Department include the Management Board level 'Champion' for Freedom of Information and the Implementation Team Leader. Records and knowledge management staff, including website staff, are also involved, as are many others throughout the Department. The work is clearly an aspect of many people's jobs; for example, the Home Office has in the region of 50 staff involved in the implementation as some part of their job.