91Èȱ¬

Why did the Department for Constitutional Affairs change its mind on giving the 91Èȱ¬ the information discussed in my previous entry?

This is what the DCA told us in July:

"The public interest is better served by non-disclosure in this instance because government policy is still developing in this area. There is a strong public interest in officials being able to fully and frankly exchange views for deliberation when developing policy. This is particularly so when it is in relation to sensitive discussions about the development of the government’s policy on a particular matter. For Government to succeed in upholding that public interest, officials need to be able to consider the important issues at stake and all available options, to debate those vigorously, to expose all their merits and demerits and to understand their possible implications. The prospect of disclosure may also have a substantial impact on the nature of the discussions, which may lead to an unwillingness to engage in discussion as part of the deliberative process. If information was released at this stage of the policy process, sensitive issues still on the agenda could be released which might damage future policy formulation by inhibiting free and frank advice to Ministers from their officials and free and frank discussion between Ministers during the policy formulation stage."

And this is what the DCA told us today when releasing the information in response to our request for a review:

"Whilst the Government has announced what it is minded to do in relation to the fees regime, no final decision has been made and so the policy on this issue is still developing. However in considering your request on internal review, and in light of the recent Government announcement we consider that the balance of the public interest favours disclosing the information you have requested."

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