YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW
This is a popular guide to the Freedom of Information Act
Have you ever wanted to know:
- Which doctor has the best operation success rate in your health trust?
- If MI5 has a file on you?
- The actual number and type of crimes that happen in your street?
- Which streets are targeted by parking attendants in your area?
- Which buildings have failed their fire safety inspections?
The public had no right to most of this information until 2005 when the Freedom of Information Act came into force giving the British public a legal right, for the first time, to access information from more than 100,000 public authorities. But in order to take advantage of this new right people first have to know who holds the information and how to get it. This guide gives you the tools you need to get the information you want.
With a foreword by Ian Hislop, the second edition includes chapters on Scotland and the law in practice; tips for digging out information and template letters; an expanded and updated directory; examples of case law that you can use in your quest for answers; and an expanded business chapter to help you get contracts, tenders and performance evaluations.
“Information is born free, but everywhere is in chains. Heather Brooke has written the Information Liberation Front guide to end the politicians’ enslavement of the facts which belong to the public. Bravo.”
Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
“Heather Brooke pulls no punches when it comes to exposing how the government, public institutions and private companies all keep the British public in the dark. Even better, she tells readers how they can successfully challenge the system using the latest public access laws.”
Michael Crick, Political Journalist
“Labour had been promising freedom of information for decades. Now we are getting it we need to keep the pressure on, and this is just the book to do that. All journalists should pick up these tricks.”
Jeremy Dear, former General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists
”Both revealing and practical - a necessary antidote to the British culture of secrecy.”
David Banisar, former Deputy Director of Privacy International