Results 1-20 of 133 for "freedom of information" speaker:Michael Wills

Written Answers — Justice: Joint Advisory Committee for Qualifications Approval: Freedom of Information (12 Nov 2009)

Michael Wills: The Joint Advisory Committee for Qualifications Approval (JACQA) could be designated as a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) by means of a section 5 order. The JACQA was not nominated for inclusion in an initial section 5 order during the Government's consultation on this in 2007 (the JACQA was not established until 2008). However, Government are keeping the...

Written Answers — Justice: Departmental Freedom of Information (11 Nov 2009)

Michael Wills: All freedom of information requests made to my Department are administered by the Data Access and Compliance Unit. Of the 27 staff in the Unit, 19 deal with the management of requests. The remainder are responsible for handling requests under the Data Protection Act 1998, or have managerial or administrative responsibilities. The Data Access and Compliance Unit was formed in October 2008, and...

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Supreme Court (Running Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Michael Wills: .... That has always been the case, there has always been a charge for it and that will continue to be the case. I stress that this is not a case that relates to documents that might be accessed by a freedom of information request—it is nothing to do with that. The documents referred to in the newspaper report—the source of the hon. Gentleman's question—are not documents...

Written Answers — Justice: Prisons: Freedom of Information (10 Nov 2009)

Michael Wills: On 16 July, the Government published the response to its consultation on extending the Freedom of Information Act by means of a section 5 order. It noted that it was not minded to include private prisons in an initial order. However, the Government have made it clear it intends to keep the extension of the Act under review.

Nato: Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (20 Oct 2009)

Michael Wills: ...is not valuable or that everything in it does not play an important part in the continuing programme of constitutional reform. My hon. Friend rightly drew attention to the importance of measures on freedom of information, devolution and the independence of national statistics—and of course I agree with him. The hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) made a serious speech. He...

Written Ministerial Statements — Justice: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (12 Oct 2009)

Michael Wills: On Thursday 24 September I deposited copies of "The Freedom of Information Act 2000—Statistics on Implementation in Central Government: Q2—April— June 2009" in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office. This is the Quarterly Monitoring Statistics Report analysing the performance of central Government in the fifth...

Written Answers — Justice: Freedom of Information (9 Sep 2009)

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Information about the numbers of complaints referred by hon. Members to the ICO and the time taken to resolve them is set out as follows. However, it should be noted that this information was identified on the basis of complaints made from a respondent...

Written Answers — Justice: Information Tribunal (21 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority which enforces compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The total cost to the ICO for counsel in the recent Information Tribunal case "Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v IC" was £7,606.38. In addition, considerable time was spent on the case by the...

Written Answers — Justice: Freedom of Information (20 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: ...to Parliamentary Questions on this subject. In addition, the Justice and Constitution Select Committees have commented on the timeliness of the Information Commissioner's Office's handling of freedom of information cases. For this financial year, the Government have identified additional funding of £500,000 for the Information Commissioner's Office's freedom of information work, over...

Written Answers — Justice: Freedom of Information (20 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: On 16 July, the Government published their response to the consultation on extending the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to cover additional bodies through a section 5 order. Copies have been made available in the Libraries of both Houses, the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office and on the Ministry of Justice website. Annex B of the report lists all of the respondents to the consultation.

Written Ministerial Statements — Justice: Freedom of Information Act (Records Management) (16 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: I have today laid before each House a revised copy of the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on the management of records, issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I have also published a copy of the Government's response to the public consultation entitled "The Freedom of Information Act 2000: The designation of additional public authorities". Copies of this document...

Written Answers — Justice: Freedom of Information (15 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the performance of central Government in dealing with requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. In 2008, the Ministry of Justice received 2,492 requests under the Act. Of these, 529 sought information which was not held by the Department, and in respect of a further 426, the requester was provided with advice and...

Written Answers — Justice: Local Government Association (15 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: In the Prime Minister's statement on Constitutional Renewal on 10 June 2009, he noted our plans to look at broadening the application of the Freedom of Information Act. We have considered carefully the responses to the public consultation on designating additional public authorities under the Act through a section 5 order and will publish our full response to the consultation by the summer.

Written Answers — Justice: Information Commissioner's Office (13 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice and the Information Commissioner regularly review the resources required for the commissioner to discharge all of his freedom of information responsibilities. For this financial year, the Government have identified additional funding of £500,000 for the Information Commissioner's office's freedom of information work, over and above the baseline funding of £5...

Written Answers — Justice: British Constitution: Ministerial Statements (9 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: We will publish our full response to the consultation on designating additional public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act through a section 5 order by the summer.

Written Answers — Justice: Official Documents (7 Jul 2009)

Michael Wills: ...the Prime Minister announced that the UK Government intended to reduce the time taken to open official records to the public from 30 to 20 years, and to make two amendments to the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to ensure that information access arrangements allow essential constitutional relationships and conventions to be preserved. These proposed amendments would have...

[Miss Anne Begg in the Chair] — Bill of Rights (UK) (25 Jun 2009)

Michael Wills: ..., and I think that the people of London appreciated that—just as the people of the United Kingdom appreciate all the devolution measures that we have brought about. We also brought in the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and we have seen the benefits of that throughout its history. In recent weeks, that Act has been particularly challenging for many Members of the House—and...

Written Ministerial Statements — Justice: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (25 Jun 2009)

Michael Wills: Today I have deposited copies of the "Freedom of Information Act 2000—Fourth Annual Report on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act in Central Government —2008" in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office and are available on the internet at www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm...

Written Answers — Justice: Freedom Act of Information Act 2000 (16 Jun 2009)

Michael Wills: In the Prime Minister's statement on Constitutional Renewal on 10 June, he emphasised our plans to look at broadening the application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and reducing the time taken to release official documents. We are considering carefully the responses to the public consultation on extending the Act through a section 5 order. This could include within the scope of the...