In the forthcoming September issue of Information World Review we have an exclusive interview with an information professional who is at the coal face of using the Freedom of Information Act (FoI). Rebecca Lush is the Roads and Climate Change campaigner for Transport 2000, an independent body that lobbies for sustainable transport solutions.
One body that has a wealth of information on transport usage in the UK is, unsurprisingly the Department for Transport. Yet as this article details; getting access to that information is nigh on impossible. Without access to proper information a body cannot deliver on its stated aim - to inform the debate and help those keen to adopt more environmentally sustainable transport. You get a small inkling of government conspiracy and double dealing. But Lush and Transport 2000 are above the nail gnashing fears of conspiracy theorists. In fact their experience is of a civil service that is poorly trained on handling FoI requests.
She tells IWR's Alisdair Suttie: ‘Government agency staff at all levels need to be better trained to deal with requests under the Freedom of Information Act. There’s a prevailing attitude that anyone asking questions is automatically bad. Until this way of thinking changes, it will always be a struggle to obtain information as easily and readily as it should be.’
A search for FoI training reveals on data protection courses. Organisations known to and for information professional training such as Aslib, Cilip and TFPL don't seem to have seen this golden opportunity coming.
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