The Government has delayed introducing restrictions on the public’s right to know about the State, raising hopes among campaigners that it will abandon the idea.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland, the Information Rights Minister, has announced a second consultation into plans to change the way in which the cost of freedom of information requests is calculated.

The original consultation was restricted to issues directly concerning the Government’s proposals for amending the cost-calculation system. The new consultation paper widens the range so that people can make representations on whether there is any need to amend the calculation rules.

This comes after opposition to the proposals by MPs, campaign groups and news organisations. A review of the impact of the Freedom of Information Act, commissioned by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and published last October, said that a small percentage of requests and requesters were placing a disproportionately large burden on public authority resources.

The Government had intended to lay its draft regulations introducing the new cost calculations before Parliament on March 19 — 11 days after the end of the consultation. But the deadline was dropped. Critics say that the proposals would increase the number of freedom of information requests refused on the ground that they exceeded the cost limits of £600 for a central government authority and £450 for other public bodies.

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