Freedom Of Information: The end looks nigh for this 'squalid little Bill'

An ill-conceived attempt to remove Parliament from Britain's newly created Freedom of Information laws now looks almost certain to fail. The Tory MP David Maclean's Private Member's Bill, supported by ministers and elements of the Labour Party, has failed to attract a peer to sponsor it in the House of Lords.

The two-clause Bill would have effectively removed both the Commons and House of Lords from the list of public authorities obliged to release information under the 2000 Act, which came into force in 2005. It also protected all MPs' correspondence from release and stopped authorities being able to confirm or deny whether they have received a letter from an MP.

After the Bill was unexpectedly voted through in the Commons last month, the debate has become increasingly more heated, flushing out previously unknown supporters as well as stiffening the resolve of the opposition. Even Gordon Brown and David Cameron found themselves caught up in the argument, both offering equivocal support to the pro-information lobby.

The Liberal Democrat Leader in the Lords, Lord McNally, who opposed the Bill, said:

It seems very likely that this squalid little Bill will no longer become law. We are happy that this Bill will not become law. It speaks volumes that no member of the House of Lords was prepared to support this legislation.

The Labour MP David Winnick said he was "absolutely delighted" the Bill did not have a sponsor. "It is unfortunate that it has been left to the second chamber to hopefully bury this nasty bill," he said. "I only hope that no further attempt will be made to revive the measure."

Today the debate switches back to those who want a stronger, rather than a weaker, freedom of information regime. The Liberal Democrat local government spokesman Tom Brake MP will press for tougher rules when he introduces a 10-minute Rule Bill in Parliament.

The Freedom of Information (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, which is also sponsored by the FOI campaigners Norman Baker MP and Simon Hughes MP, will seek to remove the veto which allows ministers to overrule the Information Commissioner and Information Tribunal. It will also introduce a time limit for responses to public-interest FOI requests.

The Bill will also try to bring school academies and large private contractors working for public authorities within the scope of the FOI legislation. Tom Brake says:

This Bill will give MPs an opportunity to prove that, after the débâcle of just a few weeks ago over David Maclean's Bill, we are serious about strengthening FOI legislation. Members must show that they will take a firm stand against any attempts to water down existing legislation.

Many experienced users of the right-to-know law believe that the intentions of the act are being frustrated by the cynical reliance on loopholes in the rules which permit government and other public bodies to spin out requests for many months and sometimes over a year. By the time the disclosure is made, if it ever is, the information is of little interest or value to the applicant.

Mr Brake's Bill will today join the queue of Private Member's Bills awaiting a second reading. It could be just what the legislation needs.

r.verkaik@independent.co.uk