[wdmmg-discuss] Interesting rejection of a FOI request

Thu Jul 15 10:24:46 UTC 2010

Well, bugger me, it worked!

"""You asked which Minister agreed the exemption at section 36 applied
in the case of the COINS data. For a government departments the
qualified person is "any minister of the Crown". The Exchequer
Secretary, Sarah McCarthy-Fry, took the decision as departmental
minister for the Treasury Group."""

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/copy_of_the_coins_database#incoming-99982

Here's a face to the name:
    http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/sarah_mccarthy-fry/portsmouth_north

How do we make sure that if any reporter covers this story, they give
her a bell?

Julian.

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:11 AM, Lisa Evans <lisa.evans at okfn.org> wrote:
> Julian, the WGA *is* COINS, well a big part of it, but it was not published
> with the rest of COINS.
>
> There are no plans to publish any of the 10 years worth of "dry run" data
> from the WGA. But the 2009/10 data will be published in spring 2010 -- I'm
> told this report will be like company accounts level of detail.
>
> Lisa
>
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010, Julian Todd wrote:
>
>> This is the sort of response I got for COINS.
>>
>> Section 35(2) says once they've made up their mind on the policy, they
>> should release the information.  Holding onto it just because it is
>> not complete (and may never be complete) is not good enough.
>>
>> Do they have a time-frame when it will be complete, and when the
>> information can be released?  Then what about the 07-08 accounts?
>>
>> Julian.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 9:54 PM, Lisa Evans <lisa.evans at okfn.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> I should also add that the WGA is stored in COINS, but none of the WGA
>>> was
>>> included in the COINS publication.
>>>
>>> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010, Lisa Evans wrote:
>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> wdmmg-discuss mailing list
>>>> wdmmg-discuss at lists.okfn.org
>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/wdmmg-discuss
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>
>>
>