Results 1-20 of 86 for "freedom of information" speaker:Simon Hughes

Orders of the Day: Data Protection and Freedom of Information (24 Nov 2008) has video

Simon Hughes: ...the backlog of work. I am told that in the last year the commissioner had nearly 25,000 inquiries and complaints, and that he prosecuted 11 individuals and organisations and received just over 2,500 freedom of information complaints and closed about the same number. However, although 30 per cent. of the decisions were in favour of the complainant and 25 per cent. upheld public authorities'...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Members' Allowances (16 Jul 2008) has video

Simon Hughes: ...I am observing is the slightly strange coincidence that the written statement landed on the Order Paper today and that we heard about it only once we knew there was going to be a debate today. Only freedom of information requests will tell, I guess, when it was decided to include a statement on the Order Paper today. The rest I absolutely accept; I do not dissent at all. Under the right...

Business of the House (12 Jun 2008) has video

Simon Hughes: ...the Democratic Unionist party—put in the Library a record of all the meetings between Ministers and DUP Members since the Easter break, to save us all having to spend lots of public money on freedom of information exercises? We will then know exactly when the meetings happened, with whom and on what subject. On the announcement about the next Queen's Speech, can the Leader of the...

Estimates Day — [1st Allotted Day] — Supplementary Estimates, 2007-08: Standards of Conduct in Public Life (5 Dec 2007) has video

Simon Hughes: ...are, occurred when a colleague put to the House a proposal that then had tacit support, if not more, from those on the Conservative and Labour Front Benches, to take this place out of the law on freedom of information that we had not long before agreed. People cannot be expected to have faith and confidence in public life if they are not allowed the access to information about our activity...

[Mr. Mike Weir in the Chair] — Management and Services (House of Commons) (18 Oct 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...have not known, or they have tried to communicate but have not been able to get through. We should have a better system at the main ports of entry. I would be happy to work with colleagues on that. Freedom of information has come up during this debate. I accept what my hon. Friend said about the Commission's not taking a view on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which was...

Public Bill Committee: Legal Services Bill [Lords]: Clause 133 (26 Jun 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...be regarded as good, proper and honourable in what they do. I accept that the Bill as it stands does not prevent the OLC from identifying firms it has upheld complaints against. We are the subject of freedom of information legislation, and anyone, including parliamentarians and, more importantly, users of the service—ordinary citizens and local papers—will be able to obtain...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...subject only to voluntary disclosure. That is a serious problem. My next point is important for the outside listeners, viewers and followers of our debates. Members of Parliament are not subject to freedom of information legislation. Our correspondence is secret. If people come to see us as Members of Parliament, we are not public bodies but individual representatives. There is no risk of...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...want to show me. I have not seen any examples of a problem in the two and a half years since the Act has been in force. Moreover, there are many examples of decisions whereby section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, which covers exemption of personal information, applies. That is relevant to the material examples with which the right hon. Gentleman, my hon. Friends and I deal every...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: That is a concern. There are some other good examples of why we should not change the system. The Irish legislated in 1997; they now have very good freedom of information and data protection legislation that works extremely well. This Bill would mean a move back from such standards. The South Africans have a very open regime under their new constitution. The Indians too have a very open...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...authorities, and since 1998 a huge amount of guidance, and a huge number of documents and regulations, have been produced to assist everybody to behave better in this matter. Although we passed the Freedom of Information Act in 2000, it took five years to come into force, and in 1998 we passed the Data Protection Act. To put it simplistically, the Data Protection Act deals with how we...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: Since the Minister has been in her job, have any of her colleagues in her Department or its predecessor Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs, seen evidence that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or data protection legislation has been breached in a way that would cause us to need to pass such a Bill? Have there ever been any discussions about such a plan in her Department?

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: My hon. Friend's point is confirmed by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, sections 21 to 44 of which all provide different exemptions from that measure. In addition, section 2 of the Data Protection Act 1998 particularly protects sensitive personal data, which could, for example, deal with the point made by the hon. Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) on the radio this morning.

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...Devon (Nick Harvey)—not speaking on behalf of the Liberal Front Bench—said: "I confess that I am slightly queasy about the suggestion that the solution is to take Parliament out of the Freedom of Information Act altogether, and I imagine that some of my colleagues, not least my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), will have strong views on the issue on Report....

Points of Order (27 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...that happened yesterday: the Housing Association (Rights and Representation of Residents) Bill, which was put back to 15 June and, as the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) said, the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which was put back to 18 May. I have no objection to that. However, will you ask the appropriate authorities to consider whether, when a Bill's debate date...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: .... Member for Aldridge-Brownhills is, as always, welcome. As he knows, his view on these matters is hugely respected. He has been here a considerable time seeking to win the battle for the advance of freedom of information legislation. He remembers how hard he and others had to fight for freedom of information. He remembers how it was seen to be central to bringing trust into government. He...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...debate, which we will come on to later, about communication with MPs—constituency correspondence—we reject the central issue about information held in this House being exempted from the freedom of information legislation. The hon. Gentleman has been a veteran in standing up for liberties, and he has done so not in a party political way, but from a general political perspective....

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...their judgments credibility by respecting what they say, it is entirely inconsistent for us not to support the amendments, because they follow the logic of what the tribunal decided in the recent freedom of information case. I hope the House will make it clear that we support retaining the freedom of information provisions on public authorities that govern the House of Commons and the...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: ...not consistent with the new cuddly, friendly, open-government, we're-on-your-side Tory party that the party leader is seeking to sell to the country over the next couple of weeks and beyond. The Freedom of Information Act was not entirely accepted by all members of the Conservative party—they resisted it, and a Labour Government introduced it—but in the end there was a broad...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: The hon. Gentleman may not remember, but in the schedule of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that lists public authorities, the House of Commons and the House of Lords are second and third in the list. There are pages and pages of authorities, but "any government department" is the first mentioned, the House of Commons is the second and the House of Lords is the third, so in terms of...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Simon Hughes: ... The Times entitled "What do MPs think they've got to hide" or the article in The Sunday Times on 11 March entitled "Official secrecy is back on the rise", but people are beginning to notice that freedom of information is not all that it was said to be or hoped to be.