Concealment of information act

[BliarOut]

Well, that's what it looks like. www.cambs.police.uk/camops/safetycameras/news/images/FOIpolicy.pdf
Yup, they'll tell you they operate cameras, they are based somewhere in cambridgeshire and that's about it. The rest of the information is covered by exemptions! Telling you anything more could constitute a danger to the public at large

What a useless crock of shite that act is then!

[MilnerR]

Section 36: Prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs

That could mean virtually anything! It also ignores the fact that public affairs are by definition a concern to the public. What this section actually means in relation to scameras is that any information that may endanger the future of the scheme - such as evidence that they don't bloody work - can be hidden from public scrutiny.

[MMC]

Sorry - you expected something else?

You don't think they'd have bothered with a Freedom of Information Act if it actually meant they had to tell you anything that mattered - did you?

[MrsMiggins]

Wasn't it Sir Humphrey in Yes Minister who said that "they get the difficult bit out of the way in the title"?

[rus wood]

It was also Sir Humphrey who said "The Official Secrets Act is not there, Bernard, to protect secrets but to protect officials".

[g_attrill]

What is listed is the publication scheme - this is information that should be published as a matter of course. There is a non-exhaustive list of things that *they* believe shouldn't be published but everything else is up for grabs, and what *they* think can be challenged and ultimately decided by a tribunal.

Gareth