A decade of Freedom of Information

Freedom of information (FOI) requests are rising steadily, with government bodies now receiving about 1,000 per week. 

More than 400,000 requests have been made since the legislation was introduced a decade ago, on 1 January 2005. 

Justice minister Simon Hughes hailed the legislation “a triumph for transparency”.

FOI revelations over the years include the number of public sector salaries higher than £150,000 and that East Midlands emergency services spent £50,000 dealing with hoax calls. Since its inception, the FOI has been considerably broadened in scope.

In this week’s NLJ, Tom Morrison, partner at Rollits, recalls how the Freedom of Information Act 2000 “marked a new era for the right of the public to know more about the decisions public authorities make in all our names”.