Open House? The Impact of the Freedom of Information Act on Westminster Paper for the PSA Annual Conference April 2011 Gabrielle Bourke and Benjamin Worthy Email:
[email protected] (Not to be quoted without the permission of the authors) Abstract This paper presents the findings of a two-year study into the impact of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the UK parliament, looking at how MPs and peers have used the Act and how it has impacted upon parliament. This paper examines the latter, asking if FOI has made both Houses, MPs and peers more accountable and transparent, increased public understanding of parliament, public participation and trust. The findings represent some preliminary conclusions from our study, due to finish in July 2011. FOI has made parliament more accountable and transparent. It has increased understanding on a low level, particularly parliamentary activities but has had no effect on participation and none on trust. Despite concerns, it has had no impact on privilege. The discussion of FOI is dominated by expenses and here a combination of resistance, an opaque system, parliamentary culture and its special governance structure meant the crisis was particularly severe. FOI has led to major changes in parliament, particularly with the creation of IPSA, as well as several lesser changes. Introduction: transparency, openness and parliament Freedom of information laws can bring a range of benefits. Supporters hope FOI can bring increased transparency and accountability, leading in turn to better understanding of government, increased public participation and increased trust (Darch and Underwood, 2010; Hazell, Worthy, and Glover, 2010).