Plans to restrict MPs, campaigning groups and journalists to one freedom of information request every three months were published by the Government yesterday.

Despite a barrage of criticism from politicians and media organisations, the Department for Constitutional Affairs said that it was pressing ahead with changes that will also restrict the release of controversial information.

Campaigners said that the Government was taking a scythe to its own Act and was undermining the public’s right to know how government business is conducted.

The Government said that the cost and time taken up by FOI requests meant that the system must be reformed. Campaigners said that the savings — estimated at £11.8 million — were out of all proportion to the damage that would be done to the legislation.

The Government did, however, agree to a formal consultation over the restrictions, which will run until March.

Under the present rules, departments usually have to answer requests that cost them less than £600 to process. But Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Constitutional Affairs Secretary, proposes including within the £600 limit the time taken by officials to consider each request, a change that would greatly increase the number of applications turned down.

A Department for Constitutional Affairs report said that the proposals “could, on the face of it, present the risk of a high percentage of ‘complex’ requests being rejected”. And the plans to aggregate requests could “have the effect of im- posing rigid quotas on requests submitted by frequent users”.

Journalists made 10 per cent of central government FOI requests, which accounted for 20 per cent of officials’ time. Requests from journalists tended to be more complex and consequently more expensive.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland, the Information Rights Minister, said: “I believe that the changes reflected in these draft regulations will allow public authorities to take into account more accurately the work involved in dealing with an FOI request in a way that is reasonable and sensible.

“However, we feel that the existing provisions need to be extended to make sure public authorities can strike the right balance between access to information for all and the delivery of other public services.”

Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: “These changes strike right at the heart of the Act, which is that the basis for decisions should be the public interest, not authorities’ interests. The Government is taking a scythe to its own Act.”

Oliver Heald, the Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary, said: “I fear that the Government may be attempting to close down public scrutiny by curtailing the public’s right to know with this more restrictive regime.”

Caught in the Act

Stories unearthed by FOI requests:

Since 1997, the Department for Work and Pensions has paid £3.5m to patients left disabled by vaccinations

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