LONDON – Freedom of information campaigners yesterday welcomed a government decision to allow British cabinet papers to be made public after 20 years, rather than 30 as at present.
A review chaired by Daily Maileditor and Associated Newspapers editor-in-chief Paul Dacre recommended in January 2009 that all official documents should be released after 15 years.
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated that he favoured a longer 20-year delay, and that cabinet papers and documents relating to the royal family should be exempted from the new arrangements.
Yesterday, the justice secretary, Jack Straw, published the government’s final response to the Dacre review and revealed that ministers had dropped their objection to the early release of material relating to cabinet meetings.
The new 20-year rule will be phased in over a period of 10 years by doubling the volume of old official records released each year.
The director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Maurice Frankel, welcomed the decision. He said the proposed exemption would have protected cabinet papers against all applications under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Frankel said: “We are extremely pleased that the prime minister has decided to drop the proposed cabinet exemption. That would have ruled out the release of any paper circulated to cabinet or a cabinet committee, even if there would be no harm to decision-making or collective responsibility.” – (PA)