This meant that systems would have to be in place to register and track any request, wherever or whenever it was first made. France said the implementation of the FOI provisions would have to be carried out alongside implementation of the Data Protection Act 1998, which is due to come into full force in March 2000. Next year Ms France is expected to be appointed as the first Information Commissioner, a combination of her data protection role with the new FOI duties. The FOI Bill will be accompanied by a code on the keeping, management and destruction of electronic records, with which all government bodies will be expected to comply. She said departmental records officers would have to know exactly what information they hold and what has already been released by them as well as by any other public body, to ensure consistent release across departments.
Most departments have policies.
A target had been set that all new public records should be created and accessed electronically by 2004, Tyacke said. It is not good enough to say that you cannot comply if it seems like a reasonable request - you will have to do the work, which will be costly.