by Alan Davies, Group Editor Weeklies (Wales)
WE enjoy holding councils, health trusts and the like to account. The Welsh Assembly and the Government as well come to that.
And they don’t like it, all too often using the cost of bureaucracy as a means of halting journalistic investigation.
That’s just what will happen if government ministers are allowed to meddle with the Freedom of Information Act.
The freedom bit of the legislation is nowhere near as clear-cut as some would assume anyway. There are stumbling blocks galore to overcome when seeking information that we believe should be readily available.
But now a Government which once boasted of its openness and honesty wants to make information even more difficult to obtain. If some ministers and MPs get their way the freedom bit will soon become very costly indeed and obtaining information we believe should already be in the public domain will become a minefield.
What is suggested is that time taken to read and consult on requests be added to the cost of producing answers. That will make it much easier for public bodies to reject requests for help simply by claiming that providing what we want will cost more than the current £450 limit.
But they would say that wouldn’t they? Often they don’t want us to have an answer or can’t be bothered making the effort to provide it.
On page eight of the March 1 edition of the Weekly News we tell how the Freedom of Information Act has been used by this paper. Pretty impressive it is too, but obviously you will draw your own conclusions.
Someone once said a story is only news if someone wants to stop you publishing it. If Freedom of Information rules are altered it will make it far more difficult for us to bring you the stories you have every right to read.
We’ve told the Government what we think of its threatened changes. We’d be grateful if you would too. Visit the Campaign for Freedom of Information website at www.cfoi.org.uk
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