PLANS to make selected government information available through the
Internet have been criticised for failing to take into account the full
potential of computer systems.
From this week, the Treasury and other government bodies, such as the
Citizen鈥檚 Charter Unit and the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys will
publish information 鈥� mainly press releases and ministers鈥� speeches 鈥� on the
Internet. 鈥淚n the future, the public could have access to government
information from a single point of entry鈥� says Robert Hughes, junior science
minister. Later this month, the Treasury hopes to publish Kenneth Clarke鈥檚
Budget speech 鈥渁lmost as soon as he sits down鈥�.
But Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information,
criticises the plans for not advancing the cause of more open government.
鈥淭here are databases that aren鈥檛 confidential that we would rather see,鈥� he
says. 鈥淔or example, lists of prosecutions or infringements of legal standards,
collected by regulatory authorities.鈥�
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But even if the government were to make such information available, it is
unlikely to be free, says Frankel. The Department of Trade and Industry, for
example, advises other departments that 鈥渋nformation is only valuable if
somebody wants it鈥�. As a result, he says, information will only be free if no
one has any use for it.
The British government information can be found on the World-Wide Web: the
Treasury on http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk and the others on http;/
/www.open.gov.uk. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e going to call themselves `open government鈥� maybe
we should protest under the Trade Descriptions Act,鈥� says Frankel.