tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251497097367026173.post7867642433130286468..comments2024-03-21T00:28:40.483-07:00Comments on Futures Forum: The Freedom of Information Act and East Devon >>> >>> the story continuesJeremy Woodwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400294463272546581noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251497097367026173.post-72485427271699037192015-07-20T09:05:34.626-07:002015-07-20T09:05:34.626-07:00Whilst the Sidmouth Herald's article is a fair...Whilst the Sidmouth Herald's article is a fair representation of what was said at last week's Cabinet meeting, it really does not do justice to either:<br /><br />a. the seriousness of the comments aimed at EDDC by both the Tribunal and the Information Commissioner, or <br />b. the amount of change needed not only to EDDC's processes but more importantly to their whole attitude to transparency.<br /><br />Their FoI processes certainly suffer from a lack of resources - and it was great to hear that they will be employing another officer to try to speed things up. Its a pity that it took a First Tier Tribunal judgement to force them to increase resources rather than performance monitoring showing that they were persistently breaking the law. (see what I mean about attitude?)<br /><br />Of course, they had to say something in response to these two judgements, but words are easy to say. TO change their attitude to become more transparent is much harder, and my own experiences (including recent experiences trying to get hold of historic meeting agendas and minutes) suggest that they have a LONG LONG way to go.<br /><br />If they are genuine about transparency then as a first step I CHALLENGE THEM, as a matter of urgency, to publish all Knowle documents and the Agendas and Minutes of the Asset Management Forum for the past 6 years - documents that they are actually REQUIRED to publish anyway.Paul Fnoreply@blogger.com