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Ensuring Relevant and Accurate Information: Freedom of Information Act

This resource is designed specifically for Unit 4 of the Edexcel BTEC qualification, 'Presenting Business Information'.

Aim

Image copyright: Markus Warneke, stock.xchng

This area of the Business Studies curriculum aims to develop skills and understanding in terms of the types and features of information that business organisations use. It also looks into the information gathering process and the standards and constraints applying to this process.

In this feature, which is part of Biz/ed's BTEC Business resource, we will investigate some of the ways in which information is generated in the real world. You are asked to categorise some examples of information seeking in the workplace.

Finally, we look into the impact of the UK's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and ask how ready business organisations are to comply with the new legislation.

Information seeking in the workplace

Firstly, let's look at some occasions when people at work require information. In each of the following examples, think about the type of information request and the reasons why it might be needed:

1. You work in the sales department of a food distribution company and receive an email from your manager requesting your department's forecast sales figures for the next three months.
2. As a human resources officer, you have to approach by letter and, if necessary by telephone, referees named by candidates applying for a vacancy at your firm.
3. At your first staff meeting in your new job, you are asked to stand up and say a few words about your previous experience and what you're going to be doing in this new job.
4. Security staff employed at your workplace ask you to show your identification badge at the start of each working day.
5. As a marketing officer for a Web-based retailer, you are tasked with gathering data on UK and EU rates of broadband connection.
6. Your firm has carried out marketing research based on discussions carried out with consumer panels. You are asked to go through the accounts of these discussions to find out attitudes to the company's chosen new product.

In each of the above examples, identify:

• The type of information being handled (qualitative/quantitative, marketing/financial/human resource/operational)
• The features of the information (internal/external, primary/secondary)
• Its purposes (boosting knowledge, future planning, checking on the competition, marketing)
• The constraints that may affect the individuals providing the information

Freedom of Information in the UK?

The most significant development relating to information that has occurred in recent years in the UK is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

A culture of cynicism

The Committee on Standards in Public Life, which was set up by the Conservative Government in 1994, has carried out research indicating that most people believe that officials in any area are unlikely to tell the truth or to admit to their mistakes. This cynicism is often blamed for the lack of public involvement in the political process; demonstrated by low turnout rates for some elections.

To most people, a reluctance to be open means that someone has something to hide. It represents a problem for all public authorities because it leads to the perception that people should be sceptical about what they are being told. As a result the public becomes less likely to follow advice or to believe good news when it's reported.

The opposite is also the case: if an authority does not try to conceal information, but tries to explain what it may regard as an uncomfortable truth, it is far more likely to be trusted.

Documents of mass destruction?

Image: The number of official documents shredded rose rapidly as the deadline approached for the introduction of the FOIA. Copyright: Michael Kristof, stock.xchng

It was reported in the Freedom of Information Journal (produced by the Campaign for Freedom of Information) in January 2005 that the number of official documents shredded rose rapidly as the deadline approached for the introduction of the FOIA. The organisation believes that records indicate that some government departments destroyed twice their usual level of files in the last few months of 2004. It is unclear whether this decision was taken in the spirit of openness or as a knee-jerk reaction to the impending enforcement of the FOIA.

What is the FOIA?

The FOIA offers UK authorities an opportunity to strengthen public confidence. It was first promised by a mainstream political party in 1974, but became a reality finally on 1st January 2005. In enacting FOIA legislation, the UK joins many other countries, (including Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and fifty others), in giving the public the right to access information about the way in which the country is governed.

Who's going to make most use out of the FOIA?

Image: More information may be available for firms tendering for contracts such as the maintenance of parks and gardens. Copyright: Matthew Maaskant, stock.xchng

Whilst one of the main aims of the law is to get people involved in society, it's unlikely that the impact of the FOIA will be that everyone asks to see their medical or police records. This is certainly not the experience of the USA and Canada, where the most frequent applicants under their own versions of the FOIA are business organisations and the media.

On the basis of what we know about the increasing use of private contractors by public authorities, this is understandable: if a local authority uses a private sector firm to maintain its parks and gardens, then information about how much the authority paid for this service would be useful other companies. Competitors would be able to use this information to undercut the price charged by the original firm.

But there is a growing recognition that business information that is passed to public authorities by some companies on a regular basis might also be covered by the FOIA. Some legal experts are warning that the law could force some authorities to supply sensitive and valuable information against the wishes of private firms.

Firms that should be especially worried, according to some commercial lawyers, are those that operate within the UK's regulated sectors. These sectors include the privatised industries and the self-regulated professions. Industry watchdogs in gas, electricity, water and telecoms, for example, may have to divulge information to competitors and the press. Regulators like the General Medical Council and investment firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority are also likely to be affected. Sensitive business information in the following areas might be involved:

• Future business plans
• Projected revenues and costs
• Anticipated risks to organisations

This kind of information would be valuable not only to competitors, but also investigative journalists, lobbying groups and firms who fail to win contacts under competitive tendering.

Freedom of Information: Views from abroad

Canada's federal government adopted FOI law in 1982. Advocates of the law argued that it would restore public faith in government, but evidence of this impact seems superficial. Quoted in the Freedom of Information Journal, one Canadian academic gave some reasons why this might be the case:

• When citizens learn about mismanagement or abuse of power, they become less trusting of the state rather than more so
• FOI encouraged a community of stakeholders to become interested in openness. These groups tended to publicise those restrictions that still applied rather than celebrating new-found transparency

In the Irish Republic, some public authorities now publish on their Web sites requests for information from the media, together with their own responses. They say that this helps to:

• Tell other journalists who has made the request
• Prevent journalists claiming an 'exclusive' story, based on information that is available to everyone

Additional resources

• Committee on Standards in Public Life (http://www.public-standards.gov.uk/)
• Campaign for Freedom of Information (http://www.cfoi.org.uk/)
• Information Commissioner's Office (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/)
• Department for Constitutional Affairs (http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/)