Freedom of Information Office - UK Home Office at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/foi/index.htm
House
of Commons (U.K) - Publications available
(including reports on examination of proposed FOI legislation)
United Kingdom Government White Paper on Freedom of Information - December 1997
Prime Minister Blair's 1996 speech on Freedom of Information
Tel: 0171 831 7477
Fax: 0171 831 7461
Email: admin@cfoi.demon.co.uk
The Campaign for Freedom of Information aims to eliminate unnecessary official secrecy and to give people legal rights to information which affects their lives or which they need to hold public authorities properly accountable.
It campaigns for a Freedom of Information Act. The USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Holland already have such laws. They give people the right to any official information unless the government or public authority can show that disclosure would cause real harm to essential interests such as defence, security, law enforcement or privacy. Under the Campaign's proposals, people would be able to challenge any unreasonable withholding of information by appealing to a Commissioner and Tribunal with power to order disclosure. The Campaign also presses for more disclosure in the private sector, if the information is of public interest.
The Campaign seeks to repeal the 1989 Official Secrets Act and replace it by a narrower measure applying only to information whose disclosure would cause serious damage to defence, security, international relations, law enforcement or safety. It should be a defence to show that there was an over-riding public interest in disclosure, or that the information had previously been published.
The Campaign is a small non-profit organisation. We are not affiliated
to any political party and are supported by some 90 national organisations.
Our main funding comes from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Consumers'
Association, UNISON, our supporting organisations and individual supporters.