It comes as a new report, published today found government departments were rejecting requests for information on an unprecedented scale. In the last five years, the Cabinet Office – as well as the Treasury, Foreign Office and Home Office – have all withheld more requests than they granted, according to the report by campaign group openDemocracy. An investigation by the group found the secretive Clearing House unit gives advice to other government departments on how to avoid disclosing information. Official guidance states FOI requests, which can be made by any member of the public, should be ‘applicant blind’. Lawyers are preparing a bid to force the Cabinet Office to reveal full details of how the unit operates.

Source: Daily Mirror November 24, 2020 00:01 UTC