It will help to begin to change for good the secretive culture of the public service. We congratulate Dr Clark on the proposals. Lack of openness and transparency in British government have featured in tribunals and inquiries as a contributory factor in many cases where things have gone seriously wrong. A couple of recent examples are given in the box on the next page. But although these cases have attracted a huge amount of political and media attention, making government more open is something which should have a serious impact on the daily lives of ordinary people.
Public authorities keep a vast amount of information about individuals.
Some of this they can now get access to, under a patchwork of statutes and codes of practice. Some of it they still cannot get. Many people may want access to their files in order to pursue a dispute with a government department or other public authority. Individuals who are unhappy with the way they have been dealt with by, for example, the Child Support Agency or the Benefits Agency, or local Housing Authorities and Social Services Departments have a strong need to see how the authority concerned has handled their case. A few examples taken from recent cases dealt with under the current Code of Practice on Access to Government Information illustrate why people need access.