A silence on secrecy

Press, 21 August 1984, Page 20

A silence on secrecy

Not too much should be read into what the Information Authority describes as a “deafening silence” from the public on the workings of the Official Information Act. The authority, created to oversee the early years of the act in practice, has completed the first of its five years of life and has reported to Parliament. A flurry of interest accompanied the coming into force of the act on July 1, last year, since then, apparently, requests for official information have decreased. Reports from officials in Government departments to the authority indicate that there has not been a significant upsurge in requests since the act came into force. The authority itself reports that it has not found any strong interest among the public generally, and that replies to advertisements soliciting views have been “virtually nonexistent.” Although it is too early yet to hazard a conclusion about the effect that the act is having, the lack of public clamour would tend to support the other signs that the act is helping to free up the release of official information. There is no basis for comparison between information previously supplied and that which has only now been made accessible. Some estimate may be had from the relatively infrequent occasions on which publicity is accorded to refusals to release information, bearing in mind the greater public expectation of open government since the act was passed. Another measure is available in the statistics kept only since the act came into force. These show that, from all the departments and

agencies of the Government covered by the act, about five requests for information are declined each day; to date, most of these decisions have been reversed or modified after further consideration or the intervention of the Ombudsman. This generally satisfactory state of affairs is not without blemishes, however. The authority has noted, for. instance, that some departments are including provisions to protect official information in new or proposed legislation without prior discussion; in addition, the authority has discovered that some regulations made since the act came into force appear to contravene the act’s provisions. The authority was created with just these occurrences in mind, so that remedies Could be effected without a hullabaloo. Much remains to be done to ensure that the spirit and intent of open government is fulfilled. The old Official Secrets Act, now repealed, was reinforced by a web of other protective provisions in separate acts and regulations. The authority is aware of 220 such provisions scattered through more than 100 acts and regulations. Each of these must be reviewed then deleted, modified, or confirmed as necessary. The task will be formidable. Further teething troubles can be expected with the Official Information Act. Some of the decisions that will be made will fail to please everyone. Were any judgment to be made after the act’s first year in force, it must be that the public’s “deafening silence” implies no great dissatisfaction.