The six silliest FOI responses

It’s silly season in Westminster – the period between different parliamentary terms dominated by frivolous news stories. And while July and August have tragically been enlivened by the collapse of Afghanistan, the acres of coverage devoted to Geronimo the alpaca typified a gloriously ignoble tradition of the British press. In such circumstances, Mr S thought it the perfect time to gather together a list of the silliest reasons why Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have been rejected, ahead of a forthcoming parliamentary inquiry into how Whitehall handles them. 

The FOI Act was enacted in law in 2000 by the Blair government – a decision which prompted Tony lambasted in his memoirs, describing himself as an ‘idiot’ and a ‘naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop.’ The law has helped expose waste, incompetence and corruption during the past 20 years, most famously being used to reveal the MPs’ scandal back in 2009. Naturally, authorities both local and national have become somewhat reluctant to comply in revealing their own inadequacies.