UFOs and meatballs - the effect of FOI on public sector

Since the Freedom of Information Act came into effect, government agencies have been obliged - with some exceptions - to supply records or answer questions within 20 working days of receiving requests from the public.

For example, the Ministry of Defence receives around 300 requests per month on subjects ranging from questions about policy on alien abduction and recipes for curried meatballs. And lots of less outlandish requests for access to the vast amounts of information the government holds.

Similarly, agencies such as the National Archives (NA) get requests for records of UFO sightings and information on Nazi gold - as well as more humdrum requests for public documents.

The NA has been tipped as something of a specialist with the FOI Act, and because of its long history of dealing with documents it developed a standard - TNA 2002 - that all government departments should demand from software vendors selling electronic records management solutions.

You can read more on how the NA put in a system to cope with FOI requests here.

But as departments have implemented processes, hired staff and bought records management systems, not all of them are dealing with change as well as the NA.

According to a report from the Information Commissioner's Office, in the first three months of the year 36 per cent of information requests took longer than 20 days to answer. The Home Office faired worst of all central government departments, failing to answer 60 per cent of requests it received.

Mike Davis, senior research analyst for the Butler Group, said: "The Home Office cited 210 reasons for refusing requests."

Some requests can be turned down when information is confidential or could threaten national security. Where deadline extensions are allowed, departments are obliged to inform applicants they need more time - but in 25 per cent of cases, the government failed to do this.

The Department of Trade and Industry missed 33 per cent of deadlines, while the Department of Health did not tell 43 per cent of applicants it would be late with their answers.

A spokesman for the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which steered the bill through parliament, said: "Some results are better than others. This is a long-term cultural change in government and about being proactive by putting information on the web. But [departments] have had five years to prepare for this."

So what are the penalties for failing to give information? Ultimately, the accountable officer can be punished with a maximum prison sentence of two years.

Chris Hunt, senior associate for FOI consultant Public Partners, said: "It could be two years but it would have to be an extreme case. If someone is quite obstructive and they don't remedy a breach then they can be held in contempt. I think one of the things to note is the criminal offence if people are obstructive and destroy information."

Before this happens though it is more likely that the Information Commissioner will issue a number of bureaucratic steps, such as a practice recommendation, then a decision notice if that fails, and finally an enforcement notice. But that has yet to happen...