PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (18 October 1999)

That this House calls on the Government to include a freedom of information act in the coming Queen's Speech; welcomes the Home Secretary's willingness to reconsider the contents of the draft Freedom of Information Bill in light of the Public Administration Committee's recommendations; endorses the Committee's conclusion that 'an effective Bill needs to be based more firmly on clear rights and less on discretionary duties'; and calls on the Government to amend the draft bill to reflect the Committee's recommendations and in particular to (a) give the Information Commissioner, not ministers and authorities, the final word on when the public interest justifies disclosure and have the same power as the Commissioner under Ireland's Freedom of Information Act to compel disclosure on these grounds and (b) limit the all-embracing exemption for all information 'relating to the formulation or development of Government policy' so that it applies only where it can be shown that disclosure would be harmful and to exclude from this exemption factual information and its analysis, again in line with the Irish Act.

Sponsored by:
Lord Radice (Labour)