Former Northern Powerhouse Minister must reveal diary entries
A former Northern Powerhouse Minister must disclose details of his diary to the public, the Information Commissioner has ruled.
A member of the public submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for details of James Wharton, then MP for Stockton South and Northern Powerhouse Minister, last February.
They requested information on the former MP’s official diary; details of visits, trips or speeches outside of London; and the number of visits, trips or speeches in London.
While there were numerous occasions the DCLG acknowledged the request, it also asked for several extensions to the timeframe in which they replied to the FOIA request. There was also attempts use exemptions which the information commissioner found “neither not appropriate or applicable.”
A decision notice published by the Information Commissioner’s Office said: “In the commissioner’s opinion, it is not acceptable for a public authority to adapt, what appears to have been, a strategy of wilful procrastination in order to obstruct a request for information through its selective understanding of a request and where it has failed to properly engage with the requester in a timely and purposeful manner.”
The notice stated that not all entries could be shared publicly because they related to topics including policy formation. However, the commissioner found some of the entries were simply “anodyne” and in the public interest.
“There is a legitimate and strong public interest in the public having knowledge on how Ministers use their time, particularly in the context of carrying out their official duties,” the commissioner’s report continued.
“Such knowledge has a positive effect by assisting the public in understanding of how public money is spent and whether that spending is both justified and effective.”
The DCLG is now required to disclose the details of Wharton’s diary for the period between 1 January and 15 April 2016, with the exception on any entries which contain personal data or party political information. A series of other exemptions have been upheld by the commissioner.
Mutually understood terms for a new request must now be agreed between the requester and the DCLG about Wharton’s visits, trips and speeches both in and outside of London.
