Freedom of Information: Local Government and Accountability

Citation

McMenemy, D. (2012), "Freedom of Information: Local Government and Accountability", Library Review, Vol. 61 No. 3, pp. 232-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531211259355

Freedom of information (FoI) is still such a new phenomenon in the United Kingdom that this text is a very welcome contribution to our understanding of its impact. The focus of the text as the title suggests is local government, therefore it does not deal with the Westminster response to the FoI legislation (except for one chapter comparing local and central government issues). This focus helps the text keep its eye on participative local democracy and campaigning and on how the Acts have helped to enable local people and groups in making their local government transparent. The context of considering local government rather than central is an interesting one, as local government had no say in the implementation of the Act and so tensions could exist as a result of the responsibilities forced upon the sector.

An important theme repeated in the book is that FoI is not just about making government accountable; rather, it is hoped that such legislation breeds openness as part of the cultural fabric of the organisations. For people requesting information to have to squeeze it out of organisations does nothing to enhance democracy, it merely makes the requester cynical. This is why the legislation (with a UK Act, and a specific Act to cover Scottish bodies) at the centre of the policy, directing the development of publication schemes, encourages organisations to make as much information available as possible, by default. A model publication scheme recommended by the Information Commissioner is included in the appendix to illustrate this.

Among the eleven notable chapters there is an excellent case study chapter featured, which deals with how one pressure group – the Campaign to Protect Rural England – has developed its relationships with local government in light of the FoI legislation. Planning requests rate highly in the FoI statistic, and it is clear to see the benefit such legislation has on the ability to access documents relating to changes to the built and natural environment, which pre FoI may well have been hidden away beyond scrutiny.

Interestingly, a chapter covering the Act's effect on local participation reveals that that majority of requests relate to “immediate concerns of the requester rather than […] broader policy issues.” An aspect of local transparency certainly, but perhaps excepting larger public interest issues identified such as school closures, most requests would not necessarily be deemed to be of wider public interest. Clearly with FoI being new legislation, it may take time for people to become confident in its use, and this scenario may change.

A possible gripe is the over‐emphasis in the text of England and Wales over Scotland, with only one of the eleven chapters directly dealing with the Scottish FoI Act. Since the chapter concerned is written by the Scottish Information Commissioner it is extremely informative, however the downside of this is it lacks the detachment that perhaps the other chapters have, being written by researchers and academics. Some reflections from an academic dealing with Scottish responses to the legislation would have rounded the book nicely.

Overall, however, this is an excellent text, well written and edited, containing a range of strong facts and reflections on this relatively new (to the UK) legislation. It offers genuine insight into how the legislation is impacting on local government organisations.