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Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Second Special Report - The Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House: Government Response to the Committee’s Ninth Report of Session 2021–22

Published 7 July 2022

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee The Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to Ninth Report - The Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House.

This is the government's response, published 7 July 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government largely does not adopt the Committee's recommendations, and in place of an external ICO audit it is relying on an internal review led by Sue Langley OBE.

  • On transparency, the government "notes" the Committee's concerns but its "present view" is that quarterly statistics on referrals would be "a disproportionate use of resources for a de minimis function".
  • On the ICO audit, it considers an internal review "a proportionate response"; the Langley review will look at whether further information should be published, and the government will "update Parliament and the Committee in due course".
  • On practice, it states that all FOI requests are handled "on an applicant blind basis" and that it is "legitimate" for Special Advisers to assist on requests. It says it would be "wrong" for the Cabinet Office to intervene in another department's procedures.
  • On the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, it says the exemption was agreed by both Houses and it "has no plans to revisit this decision". Work to revise guidance on non-corporate communication channels "has now resumed".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

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