[wdmmg-discuss] Interesting rejection of a FOI request

Tue Jul 13 20:50:58 UTC 2010

The whole of government accounts (WGA) has been running every year, for 10 
years, and during this time the public have seen exactly zero results from 
the exercise.

The WGA gives a very detailed picture of the financial health of every 
government funded body -- so clearly would be really useful to where does 
my money go.

I was told by the small team at the Communities and Local Government that 
the WGA 2008/09 is sitting in the Treasury. I was also told that two 
departments failed the WGA audit (the department of health and the 
ministry of defense), which led to none of it being published.

So I asked for that report (minus the results for the two departments 
that failed the audit):

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/whole_of_government_accounts_200#incoming-99856

The rejection I got was unlike anything else I have received.

They have the information I requested, but the reponse when to on say:

"Ministers and officials need space in which to develop policy, including 
space for the development of policy through an interative process of 
testing and refining ideas. This process could be weakened if information 
was released prematurely or when proposals where not finalised, as this 
could lead to poorer decision-making".

Any suggestions for how to proceed are most welcome.