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Data protection regulator launches staunch defence of Freedom of Information Act

The staunch defence comes as Justice Secretary Michael Gove announces a crackdown on freedom of information laws

Thursday 02 July 2015 16:23 BST

The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham (PA)

The regulator in charge of data protection and consumer protection has given a staunch defence of Britain’s embattled transparency laws, only days after Justice Secretary Michael Gove confirmed he was considering a crackdown on freedom of information laws.

The Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said it was striking how “hard fought” for decisions had resulted in such “routine” publication of vital information, in comments that will be seized upon by transparency campaigners.

Last week Mr Gove confirmed he was considering making it more difficult to procure information under the Freedom of Information Act, including by allowing officials to count “thinking time” when calculating how much it costs to collate and retrieve information.

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

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1/8What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Welfare payments will be slashed

One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by £12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where £2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves £10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit – with millions of families losing out

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die

The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to £50,000 by 2020. They haven’t said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017

The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be more privatisation of the NHS

Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be many more free schools – and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past

The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future

Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There maybe more free childcare – but not necessarily

In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Workers' rights could be reduced

The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power – but these are now under threat

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However, Mr Graham said that information on the safety standards of different cars, hygiene standards in pubs and restaurants and surgical performance levels, were among the data that is “now expected and unexceptionable” thanks to the 2005 Freedom of Information Act.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who introduced the act, famously described himself as an “idiot” for introducing the law, but Mr Graham said the ICO’s role in enforcing the act has “led to information being released that time and time again has delivered real benefits to the UK”.”

Mr Graham was speaking at the launch of the Information Commissioner’s Office annual report, which said that there has been a 11.4 per cent increased in complaints to the ICO about nuisance calls and texts, up to 180,188.

The report also detailed how the total value of fines issued by the ICO had halved this year, despite the watchdog receiving roughly the same number of complaints about data protection.

Privacy campaigners have long called for the body to issue more fines to firms that breach data protection rules, however the body said in May that issuing fines “left, right and centre” is not the best way to safeguard privacy.

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