Results 1-13 of 13 for "freedom of information" speaker:Jo Swinson

[John Bercow in the Chair] — Overseas Territories (23 Apr 2009)

Jo Swinson: ...is and why it cannot be dealt with swiftly by the Government saying, "Yes, absolutely. We will change the procedures, and that will happen from this coming November." Recommendation 21 relates to freedom of information legislation and encouraging overseas territories to adopt it. I welcome the Committee's recommendation. I am a firm believer in freedom of information legislation. It is...

Business of the House: Members' Payments and Allowances (22 Jan 2009) has video

Jo Swinson: ...generally constructive tone. I welcome the helpful proposals to improve accountability for our expenses and I especially welcome the withdrawal of the proposal to exempt Members of Parliament from freedom of information legislation. I was very taken with the contribution of my hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath), especially his call for us "to see ourselves as others...

Business of the House: Members' Payments and Allowances (22 Jan 2009) has video

Jo Swinson: ..., then, is a good principle for us to adopt. We heard earlier about the 26 categories that will now apply and debated whether every receipt should be published, which will also happen under freedom of information legislation. I accept the argument that perhaps if we had had a better publication regime before, we might not have reached the stage of the Information Commissioner's ruling that...

Business of the House: Members' Payments and Allowances (22 Jan 2009) has video

Jo Swinson: ...is to be done, may we have a more accurate estimate of the expected date of publication, so that the public can be reassured that the process will not drag on indefinitely? My final point relates to freedom of information legislation and to whom it applies. The one issue about which I still feel some concern is whether there is any prospect of further attempts in the House to exempt...

Business of the House: Members' Payments and Allowances (22 Jan 2009) has video

Jo Swinson: ...that the best way in which the House can do that is to go down the route of full transparency. I hope that notwithstanding the new categories that are being introduced, once the first tranche of freedom of information expenses have been published, the House will recognise that continuing that practice is the wise thing to do.

Business of the House (22 Jan 2009) has video

Jo Swinson: ...withdrawing the order in response to protests from tens of thousands of people across the country as well as many Members of this House. Can she confirm that this shameful attempt to exempt MPs from freedom of information legislation has been dropped not just for today, but for good?

Royal Assent: Christmas Adjournment (18 Dec 2008) has video

Jo Swinson: ...payments because he earned a good salary, but my constituent was left on benefits and did not know that the payments were being made. That went on for several years, and she found out only through a freedom of information request. If she could have got the payments to which she was entitled for her and her children, she would have been in a position to take on part-time work and make...

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

Jo Swinson: The freedom of information legislation in Scotland is seen as an exemplar both in the time allowed—information must be disclosed far more promptly—and in the level of scrutiny. Some Members of the House might be uncomfortable with the level of scrutiny that Members of the Scottish Parliament undertake. Every expense receipt is published online within a month of being submitted....

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

Jo Swinson: ...that I wrote to a Scottish authority in my capacity as MP—to the Greater Glasgow health board, for example—would be treated entirely differently from correspondence under the stronger Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. That correspondence would not be exempt, but any correspondence to, say, the Department for Work and Pensions would be exempt. I do not know whether it...

Written Answers — Scotland: Freedom of Information (22 Feb 2007)

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2007, Official Report, columns 573-74W, on freedom of information (FOI), what the grounds were for each non-publication of an FOI request referred to in the answer of 24 January 2007, Official Report, column 1769W, on Freedom of Information on the Department's website.

Written Answers — Scotland: Freedom of Information (2 Feb 2007)

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2007, Official Report, columns 1768-69W, on freedom of information, where the information that was released by his Department between March to December 2006 and not published on his Department's website is available elsewhere in the public domain.

Written Answers — Scotland: Freedom of Information (24 Jan 2007)

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria he uses to determine which responses to freedom of information requests are made available on his Department's website.

Written Answers — Scotland: Freedom of Information (30 Nov 2006)

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Freedom of Information requests have been made to his Department in each month since March 2006.