The Isle of Man on Feb. 10 began a six-week public consultation on proposed freedom of information legislation drafted with an eye on potential costs.
Chief Minister Allan Bell said in the announcement explains that the bill strikes a balance between the competing demands of openness, confidentiality and affordability.
“The Council of Ministers remains committed to increasing openness and transparency, but it has a responsibility to do so within the context of what is practical and realistic given the challenges facing the public finances of our Island,” he said in the statement
In order to limit the costs, the proposed FOI regime would not apply to information pre-dating the start of the current Manx Government in October 2011. It could only be used by Isle of Man residents and its introduction would be phased across the range of public bodies.
The existing non-statutory Code of Practice on Access to Government Information would continue to be available for information prior to October 2011 for requests from off-Island and for public authorities covered by the Code but not yet subject to FOI, according to the announcement.
“By its very nature an Act has to be more prescriptive and precise than a non-statutory Code, and its administration is more onerous,” the announcement says.
“However, the type and range of information available under the proposed Act is expected to be similar to what is already obtainable under the Code,” the announcement says. “One significant difference is that the Bill creates potential access to post-October 2011 proceedings of the Council of Ministers, subject to the exemption regime and other parameters set out in the legislation. All the records of the Council of Ministers are currently confidential by law under the Council of Ministers Act 1990.”
“The Bill acknowledges the Government’s need to respect confidentiality and its duty to protect the privacy of individuals and organisations with the inclusion of a number of well-defined exemptions. As is the case elsewhere there are two categories of exemptions, absolute and qualified, the latter being subject to considerations of the public interest,” Bell said.
The deadline for submission of responses is Friday March 21.
The hope to have a law in place early next year, Bell said in Isle of Man Today. He is quoted in the same outlet as saying costs should be capped to a maximum of £500,000 a year.
The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency located in the Irish Sea.
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