Opening the files of councils, health authorities, police and other public bodies to create a culture of openness is the aim of the Freedom Of Information Act, which came into force in the New Year.

The sweeping changes promise to open up public bodies to scrutiny and lead to more public confidence in decisions.

The legislation gives members of the public the right to demand information from organisations ranging from a GP's surgery to a Government department for the first time.

The public can demand to be told whether the information they are after exists and the right to access that information.

On introducing the law, Constitutional Affairs Secretary Lord Falconer said: "The more there is a culture of openness, the better decision-making will be. If decisions have to be publicly explained, they will be better taken. Real informed accountability improves standards."

Councils, Government departments, schools, GP surgeries, the police authority and any other organisations which receive the majority of its funding from the public purse are all covered under the act.

How much a council spends on wages and what the highest earners take home, a school's admission policy, police statistics on the amount of successful investigations into burglaries, muggings or car crime and local hospital staffing levels are among the possible requests that can be made.

Public bodies have 20 working days to reply to bids for information which have to be made in writing, either by e-mail or post, to the freedom of information officer or another employee who is likely to hold the relevant files.

The act also requires these bodies to have a publication scheme, which is in effect a guide to what information is made publicly available. It should set out how to access information and whether there is a charge to obtain a hard copy.

Details are usually on the body's website if they have one. If not, a hard copy should be available for the public to collect.

Brentwood Borough Council, Basildon District Council, Epping Forest District Council, Essex Police and the Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford Primary Care Trust are among the bodies with publication schemes on their websites.

Brentwood council deputy chief executive, David Marchant, said: "It won't change our way of working as we have always been open, but it will change the way we operate and handle requests for information.

"We have done as much as we can and tried to embrace the act in its entirety."

There are a number of exemptions under the act which could mean information-seekers could face a brick wall when making applications.

Information that is personal, commercially sensitive, relates to national security, confidential, due to be published anyway, relates to a criminal investigation or has been held for an investigation at anytime are among the exemptions outlined in the act.

Public bodies will also be able to turn down applications if the cost of answering the query would be more than £600 or be against the public interest.

Some Government departments have come under fire for shredding thousands of secret files before the act's advent on January 1.

Brentwood and Ongar MP Eric Pickles said: "The act is a very good thing and it should remove the secrecy of Government.

"It's an important piece of legislation that will redress the balance between the citizen and the state and the only people who should be worried are those civil servants who were busy shredding papers up to the deadline on Saturday."

The act has been branded as another layer of red tape for public bodies to deal with by Basildon council leader Cllr Malcolm Buckley.

He said: "For a council like Basildon it's not going to make a huge amount of difference. It is really another piece of unnecessary legislation and more red tape we have to comply with.

"We have always been open and transparent."

Essex Police has created a new post of freedom of information officer, held by Darren Thomas, who will deal with all the requests on a daily basis.

He said: "Answering requests is nothing new for Essex Police. The act means we have to operate under stricter guidelines and comply with requests within 20 working days.

"The act doesn't mean we will give every piece of information away - due to the sensitive nature of police work, information that would prejudice an investigation is exempt. Essex Police will comply with the spirit of the law and be as open and transparent as possible."

Although the act was passed in 2000, public bodies were given more than four years to get ready for its enforcement.

However many smaller public bodies, such as primary schools, small GP surgeries and parish councils feel they have not had the necessary support from the Government to enforce the changes.

Doddinghurst Parish Council chairman, Cllr Debbie Dicker, said: "It's a strange act for little councils like parish councils.We have freedom of access to the parish office already and people have always been welcome to look at our files.

"Parish councils don't have what you term secrets and if you don't have secrets you don't have to worry.

"We've had no real support from the Government on what this act means to us."

Mr Pickles advised that an element of common sense needs to be used when making enquiries to smaller public bodies.

The advice from central Government is that if an organisation refuses to disclose information that the applicant thinks should be released in the public interest, a complaint should be made to the organisation.

If this fails, members of the public should write to the act's watchdog, the Information Commissioner, who will decide whether the complaint is justified.

The Campaign for Freedom of Information is offering help on its website and is encouraging members of the public to use their new rights. Their website is www.cfoi.org.uk

The Information Commissioner's Office can be contacted on 01625 545700.

Published Wednesday January 12, 2005

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