What sort of right-to-know laws do we want for Britain? Should they be limited to the disclosure of information already deemed fit for public consumption or should the scope of the Freedom of Information Act force public authorities to give up documents and correspondence that might embarrass or damage the reputation of public figures and the offices they hold?Read the full article
..this week the tide seems to have turned in favour of those who want to see the legislation used to uncover unpalatable truths about those who govern us. Two important rulings, one by the Information Commissioner and the other by the Information Tribunal, have extended the scope of the Act and dealt a blow to those who would prefer Britain to remain a secret state.
Ministers and the Commons' authorities are now considering their options. The Commons may look to the High Court to overturn the tribunal decision.
Ministers may wish to take their battle to the Information Tribunal which has the power to overturn Mr Thomas's decision on Cabinet minutes. But that is not the end of it. The Labour architects of the Freedom of Information Act must have known there might come a time when the Government would be ordered to disclose material that it would not wish to make public during its term of office. So the Act makes provision for government intervention by allowing ministers to deploy an all-trumping veto.
When that day comes, and it hasn't happened in the first three years of the legislation, we will know the true limits of Freedom of Information in this country.
Deutsche Bank’s oil team is jumping into the swirling peak-oil debate, arguing that steep decline rates in existing oil fields will make it all but impossible for producers to break beyond a 100 million-barrel-a-day ceiling.
Peak or Plateau?
Their analysis puts the bank, long a big player in the oil patch, among a growing chorus who see the world hitting a production plateau of 100 million barrels a day within seven or eight years. The world is now consuming around 87 million barrels a day, but most institutional forecasts say that demand will top 100 million barrels a day by 2015.
The bank says that supply constraints could push the price of oil to $150 a barrel by 2010. The big question will be whether prices at that level will finally lead to a sharp break in demand, something that $100-a-barrel oil has yet to do.
Wall Street Journal
Deutsche Bank’s oil team is jumping into the swirling peak-oil debate, arguing that steep decline rates in existing oil fields will make it all but impossible for producers to break beyond a 100 million-barrel-a-day ceiling.
Peak or Plateau?
Their analysis puts the bank, long a big player in the oil patch, among a growing chorus who see the world hitting a production plateau of 100 million barrels a day within seven or eight years. The world is now consuming around 87 million barrels a day, but most institutional forecasts say that demand will top 100 million barrels a day by 2015.
The bank says that supply constraints could push the price of oil to $150 a barrel by 2010. The big question will be whether prices at that level will finally lead to a sharp break in demand, something that $100-a-barrel oil has yet to do.
Wall Street Journal
In a landmark ruling under the Freedom of Information Act, the Information Commissioner has ordered 32 local authorities to disclose the amount of money paid to brokers by investment managers on behalf of employees’ pension funds. The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has ruled that there is a strong public interest in releasing the information.See also:
In one case, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council received a FOI request for all IMA (Investment Managers Association) disclosure tables. The tables contain a breakdown of the commission payments made by investment managers on behalf of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. These payments are directly deducted from the pension fund.
The council refused to disclose the information citing two exemptions, confidentiality agreements and commercial sensitivity. However, the Information Commissioner decided that the public interest in disclosing the information overrides the public interest in maintaining the exemptions.
The increases could not come at a worse time for the economy. With growth slowing, energy increases that were once easily absorbed by consumers are now more likely to act as a drag on household budgets, leaving people with less money to spend elsewhere. These costs could worsen the nation’s economic woes, piling a fresh energy shock on top of the turmoil in credit and housing.
New York Times
The increases could not come at a worse time for the economy. With growth slowing, energy increases that were once easily absorbed by consumers are now more likely to act as a drag on household budgets, leaving people with less money to spend elsewhere. These costs could worsen the nation’s economic woes, piling a fresh energy shock on top of the turmoil in credit and housing.
New York Times
Famed consumer advocate Ralph Nader is not serious about global warming because he opposes nuclear power. In fact, not only does he have a very long history of opposing nuclear power, he will probably continue to aggressively oppose this technology that could be an important tool in the fight against global warming. Ralph Nader is running for president again and we are including his position on this issue along with the rest of the candidates.
The House of Commons has been ordered to provide a more detailed breakdown of MPs' expenses, following a three-year Freedom of Information battle.
Claims made under the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) must be published in detail, the Information Tribunal ruled.
MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year each to cover the cost of staying away from home, including food and rent payments.
Commons resources boss Andrew Walker had argued publishing more details could intrude on MPs' private lives.
But the Tribunal ruled in favour of Freedom of Information campaign Heather Brooke and two journalists - and ordered the Commons to release the information within 28 days.
The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has ordered the Cabinet Office to release the minutes of Cabinet meetings where military action against Iraq was discussed. He does not believe, however, that the disclosure of these minutes will necessarily set a precedent in respect of other Cabinet minutes.The Campaign for Freedom of Information has welcomed the Commissioner's decision.
The Commissioner’s decision follows a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of Cabinet minutes and records relating to two meetings held between 7 – 17 March 2003 where the Attorney General’s legal advice was considered.
The Cabinet Office refused to release the information, stating that it is exempt from disclosure because it relates to the formulation of government policy and ministerial communications.
The Information Commissioner fully recognises the Cabinet Office’s arguments against disclosure of the information in relation to the importance of the Cabinet’s ability to freely consider the most important and sensitive policy issues without inhibition. He also accepts that protecting the convention of Cabinet collective responsibility is a strong factor in favour of withholding of Cabinet minutes.
However, in the Information Commissioner’s view the public interest in disclosing the Cabinet minutes in this particular case outweighs the public interest in withholding the information. He believes that disclosure of the information would allow the public to more fully understand this particular decision of the Cabinet and considers several public interest factors to favour the disclosure of this information:
• The gravity and controversial nature of the subject matter
• Accountability of government decisions
• Transparency of decision making
• Public participation in government decisions
However, the Information Commissioner accepts the Cabinet Office’s argument that there are a number of specific references in the Cabinet minutes which, if released, would be likely to have a detrimental effect on international relations. He therefore concludes that in respect of these references the public interest in maintaining the exemptions does outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
ENDS
Barry Furrow, director of the health law concentration at the Drexel University College of Law, says pharmacies have two major reasons to insist on confidential settlements. First, to avoid bad publicity in a field where public trust is important. Second, to keep potentially damaging information from plaintiff lawyers.Others would argue that such agreements are standard across industries, and that healthcare companies shouldn't be singled out.
The problem, Furrow says, is such agreements make it difficult to detect patterns of errors at pharmacies, though it's in the public interest to know if they exist. Furrow, a law professor, writes textbooks on health law. "There's a whole world of research that's very hard to do," he says. "It is hard to find out much of anything, even if I talk to lawyers, because they can't tell me much. It's hard to spot patterns and see what's going wrong."
Michael Krauss, who teaches legal ethics at George Mason University Law School, says it's true confidentiality is agreed to "in the majority of tort suits," particularly when a company's or an individual's reputation is at stake, as in medical or pharmaceutical malpractice. "If you and I agree to make a contract, we can condition that contract on secrecy," Krauss says. "And that's all a settlement is, a contract. Remember, there is no (court) judgment — it is a voluntary payment."From my perspective, the point of the USA Today piece is: confidential settlements in the health arena will be treated differently, whether the healthcare companies like it or not. Thus, precautions need to be taken during settlement considerations, for both plaintiffs and defendants, to ensure that the resulting settlement is seen as a resolution, not a cover-up.
Some members of the User Group raised concerns about delays caused by the use of public interest extensions by public authorities to extend the time available for responding to requests. The Ministry of Justice will be collecting statistical information for it’s next annual report on the use of the public interest extension by monitored bodies. This will be used along with specific examples that the group agreed to supply to assist officials in assessing whether there is a problem with improper use of the extension provision, the extent of the problem and how to address it.
The Ministry of Justice noted points made about the adequacy of funding to maintain current performance levels in the Information Commissioner’s Office and undertook to respond to the Commissioner on the issue by Christmas.
Research Assistant post at UCL on an AHRC-funded project
This new and significant research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to investigate what the impact of the UK Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 has been on records management services in public authorities. More specifically, the project will examine how well records management services prepared for and coped with the first three years of FOI implementation; what contribution records management services make to the ability of public authorities to comply with the FOI Act; how the user experience of FOI is affected by the management of records and what the implications are of FOI so far for good practice in records management. The research is led by Elizabeth Shepherd and Andrew Flinn in the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at UCL.
Applications are invited for the position of Research Assistant. We are looking for an experienced and highly competent research assistant who will either be a qualified archivist/records manager, with an MA in archives and records management and professional experience in records or information management, or a graduate or post doctoral candidate with experience in humanities or social science research and/or knowledge of public sector governance and the access to information environment. Working as part of a collaborative team, you will undertake a variety of qualitative research techniques including semi-structured face-to-face interviews and focus groups with a range of subjects including records management experts from local authorities, senior FOI policy managers, and FOI user communities. You will also help locate and analyse existing literature, maintain a project website and be responsible for the initial analysis of data and the reporting of results. You will be encouraged to contribute fully to all aspects of the project including the analysis and dissemination of the findings. For further details of the project please see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/icarus/foi-impact/
The post is available full-time for twelve months (1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009) on grade 6 of the UCL scale with a starting salary of £23,692 p.a. plus £2,649 p.a. London Allowance.
Please download a job pack from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/icarus/foi-impact/. Applications (e-mail or hard copy) including a letter of application and CV, plus contact details of three referees, should be sent to Kerstin Michaels, Departmental Administrator, School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, k.michaels@ucl.ac.uk
Interested candidates can also contact Dr Elizabeth Shepherd (e.shepherd@ucl.ac.uk, 0207 679 2945) for more details.
The closing date for applications is: Friday 14 March 2008.
Our friends in Detroit are getting ready to beat the existing World Record, on May 23-25. More info to follow shortly on ...Our friends in Detroit are getting ready to beat the existing World Record, on May 23-25. More info to follow shortly on ...
) from your BlackBerry home screen or from the applications folder. If you also have a personal @gmail.com account, there's a separate free application (with a red "M" icon) so you can be signed in to both accounts at the same time.
) from your BlackBerry home screen or from the applications folder.) from your phone's home screen or in the applications folder. If you also have a personal @gmail.com account, there's a separate free application (with a red "M" icon) so you can stay signed in to both accounts at the same time.) from your phone's home screen or in the applications folder. If you also have a personal @gmail.com account, there's a separate free application (with a red "M" icon) so you can stay signed in to both accounts at the same time.
.27 gallons of milk ($3.75/gal)
.125 gallons of bottled water ( $8/gal. or $1.25 for a 20 oz. bottle)
.08 gallons of Starbucks Coffee ($12.80/gal. or $2 for 20 oz. black coffee)
342 gallons of WSSC water
"In 116 cases since 2005, houses have been illegally built within a protected buffer zone near water, state records show. In two-thirds of the 81 cases city or county officials have allowed the rule breakers to keep what they built."
The head of Nissan Motor Co. said even if the United States is not in recession, its auto industry is.
"We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market," Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters, saying automakers face rising costs for iron ore, precious metals, aluminum and other materials.
"These represent risk for the industry," he said.
AP
The head of Nissan Motor Co. said even if the United States is not in recession, its auto industry is.
"We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market," Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters, saying automakers face rising costs for iron ore, precious metals, aluminum and other materials.
"These represent risk for the industry," he said.
AP
The Campaign for Freedom of Information welcomed today's vote in the House of Lords to bring Northern Rock within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. Northern Rock would have been explicitly excluded from the FOI Act under the government's nationalisation proposals published this week.
The Campaign's director Maurice Frankel said: "The government has argued that Northern Rock should be treated like private sector banks, and not be subject to freedom of information. But the fact that it is being nationalised gives it vast advantages over ordinary banks, puts it at the centre of political debate and makes an irresistible case for full public scrutiny. Publicly owned bodies like Royal Mail, which also compete with the private sector, are subject to the FOI Act - Northern Rock should be too."
The Campaign pointed out that the government has just been consulting on extending the FOI Act to private bodies with public contracts or public functions and said that made it all the more extraordinary for it to exclude a nationalised body which is fully absorbed into the public sector.
While we await the newest snowstorm to hit the
While I consider our summer activities – which must be planned around our son’s high school graduation, other family graduations, my nephew’s wedding and our daughter’s sports and 4-H – I think about the cost of gas and what that may or may not do the camping and RVing industry. For us, we may stay a little closer to home than we did last year, although part of that is just the hectic summer schedule. The other part is that we need to buy a new tow vehicle and we’re trying to make the right decision.
But while I contemplate these things, I also want to let those of you who are able to spend more time in the RV to consider working at campgrounds and RV parks – known in the industry as “workamping.” This is one way to make some money while you’re on the road and let your RV work for you.
Earlier this month, Workamper® News – a publication aimed at those who want to find ways to earn money and in some cases other benefits while spending their time traveling in their RV – held two job fairs to assist those interested in workamping.
For those of you who have an interest, there are a few suggestions the publication gives, such as identifying the type of work you want and the area where you’d like to spend some time. And, make sure you understand the agreement with your new employer.
There are also other things to consider. If you’re married, do you and your spouse want to work, or just one of you? This could determine where you look for a position, considering what the park needs.
Positions can be part-time or full-time, and some positions can even be on a volunteer basis.
Whatever your needs, there are many positions at parks – from being campgrounds hosts where your site is identified as a place for other campers and RVers to get information, and even in some cases, a cup of coffee in the morning, to cleaning bathrooms and other facilities. Some might work in camp stores while others work as recreational directors. The positions vary and the pay varies. Just make sure you understand all the terms going in, so neither you nor your new employer will be disappointed. Once you’ve signed on to work at a park, just as any employer, they are counting on you fulfilling your commitment.
Summer’s coming! Enjoy!
Finally, we come to strike the balance in the particular circumstances of this case. Weighed in the round, and considering all the aspects discussed above, we are not persuaded that the public interest in maintaining the exemption is as weighty as in the other cases considered by the Tribunal; and in the opposing scales, the factors that favour disclosure are not just equally weighty, they are heavier. We find, listing just the more important factors, that considering the amounts of money involved and numbers of people affected, the passage of time, the absence of litigation, and crucially the lack of transparency in the authority’s actions and reasons, that the public interest in disclosing the information clearly outweighs the strong public interest in maintaining the exemption, which is all the stronger in this case because the opinion is still live. To quote Bellamy : “there is a strong element of public interest inbuilt into the privilege itself. At least equally strong countervailing considerations would need to be adduced to override that public interest”. In our judgement, the countervailing considerations adduced here are not equally strong; they are stronger. The opinion should be disclosed.
Even the latest revelations, concerning constituency office rental expenses, had their roots in an FOI request by the Belfast Telegraph. The Assembly was last week finalising an official response to this FOI query, which involved rent claims by each MLA.See 'Role of FOI legislation in Minister's downfall' and 'Latest link to Sweeney too much for DUP'
Draft details were circulated to members for a final check ahead of the official release...
Eyebrows were raised at the figures for the two Paisleys - almost three times the next highest total. It is understood DUP figures made their own inquiries and discovered a Seymour Sweeney connection.
FOI has played a key role throughout the Sweeney links controversy.
MEP Jim Allister landed a major blow last month with the disclosure from the Northern Ireland Office on lobbying at the 2006 St Andrews talks.
Two of the six items on the Paisley Jnr shopping list considered by Tony Blair were linked to Mr Sweeney.
An FOI disclosure to this newspaper late last year also exposed the full extent of the MLA's lobbying on the Giant's Causeway visitor debate.
Then there was that 2003 letter to the Heritage Lottery Fund protesting about a grant refusal for the Sweeney Causeway scheme.
Written in Ian Paisley Snr's name, but apparently signed by his son, it wrongly claimed that the developer had secured the approval of world heritage body Unesco.
This letter was made public through a Belfast Telegraph FOI request. Ian Paisley Snr angrily attacked the use of the Act by "lazy journalists" .
His thoughts on the legislation are unlikely to have mellowed since then.
In a wide-ranging speech the Information Commissioner spoke about his role, the functions of his office and some of the issues he is currently facing. He went on to discuss the independent nature of his position and how it is that one commissioner can cover both data protection and freedom of information.The lecture notes are on the ICO's website.
"Any other country would have already gone in and leveled the area, which is exactly what I think the IDF should do - decide on a neighborhood in Gaza and level it... We should let them know 'you have to leave, this area will be taken down tomorrow' and just take it down - that will show them we mean business."
"The draft is understood not to contain the infamous claim that Saddam Hussein could launch a strike with 'weapons of mass destruction' within 45 minutes, a claim that was central to the final 'dodgy dossier'.The disclosure is a significant victory for Chris Ames, who first requested its release in 2005.
Yesterday Williams attacked the decision to withhold the document for so long. 'If the government withholds a piece of paper, it immediately makes it significant; it almost doesn't matter what it says,' he argued. 'That's what I said at the time: why are we withholding it?'"
