nternal documents reveal ICO explored how to 'gut the FOIA'

In an article for Mishcon de Reya, Jon Baines discusses what appears to be the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) exploring how to restrict the public's rights under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

According to internal documents, ironically disclosed via a separate FOIA request, the ICO considered measures to reduce the administrative burden of requests on public authorities and itself. 

While Baines notes that it's "far from clear that it is the ICO’s role to propose legal changes to FOIA", the proposals include limiting the right to make requests to UK residents, requiring individuals to provide physical addresses and formal identification, as well as capping the number of requests a person can submit to a single authority. Other suggestions include allowing individuals, rather than just their requests, to be labelled as vexatious, permitting authorities to refuse requests deemed not in the public interest, and removing the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal on the merits of a case.

While the ICO suggests these ideas aim to ensure services remain resilient amid a sharp rise in request volumes and complexity, the measures would weaken transparency. 

Maurice Frankel of the Campaign for Freedom of Information warned that some proposals could lead to private interests being squeezed out of the system entirely. 

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