#jpod – Assessing the impact of the Freedom of Information Act and its future

This week’s jpod comes days after the Justice Select Committee began hearing evidence as part of its review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Given the impact of the legislation on the everyday activities of the newsroom, we speak to Trinity Mirror’s David Higgerson and KM Group’s Paul Francis about current scrutiny of the law, the impact it has had on the news gathering process and how they would – and would not – like to see it developed in the future.

We also hear from:

• member of the #SaveFOI campaign and FOI officer Paul Gibbons (@FOIManUK) about why he has joined the campaign to secure the future of the Act and his view on calls to introduce charges,
• a director at the Local Government Information Unit Jonathan Carr-West about the role the FOI Act has played in building a culture of openness within public bodies,
• and head of policy delivery at the Information Commissioner’s Office Steve Wood about the ICO’s role in adjudicating FOI complaints and proposed changes to the Act

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Newspaper Society welcomes call for scrapping of media access to family court plans

The Newspaper Society today (21 July) issued a statement to say it welcomed the conclusions of a justice committee report that called for government to scrap the provisions in the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010, which would allow media access to family courts.

The committee report was actually published last week, but in an article today, the society claims the provisions, if brought into force as they stand, “would have resulted in a renewed regime of secrecy – instead of opening up the family courts, as originally intended”.

The NS had said this “will not only fail to deliver the desired public accountability but will represent a major reduction in what can now be lawfully published and will actually further reduce public debate and discussion of the family justice system”.

However, the society added that it is “disappointed” at what it claims is an impression given by the report that “the desire for greater openness and accountability in the family justice system, and that of preserving privacy for the families involved, particularly children, are positions which are necessarily polarised”.

Sue Oake, senior legal adviser at the Newspaper Society, said: “The media has repeatedly stressed that it entirely accepts the need to ensure anonymity for the children and families concerned and we are disappointed that once again this does not appear to have been sufficiently acknowledged.”

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