Tying in nicely to yesterday's post naming Freedom of Information "hall of shame" frontrunners, Computer Weekly reports a victory in its struggle against the Cabinet Office for information relating to the giant NHS IT project, NPfIT.
Several years after applying for the information under the FOIA and being turned down by the Cabinet Office, Computer Weekly has obtained a ruling from the Information Commissioner's Office that "highly sensitive" Downing Street papers must be disclosed. The papers relate to a meeting which, it is thought, led to NPfIT's launch.
This battle may be won, but the war isn't - the Cabinet Office has a right of appeal. Having resisted so far, the CO will surely fight this to the bitter end as mandarins insist openness will compromise their capacity to give "full and frank" advice to ministers.
We will be reviewing the ICO decison in detail, and will post our comments as soon as possible.
Comments