IntroductionThe formation of the Advisory Group on Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act was announced in last year's report on progress with implementing the Act. Jointly chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary in the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Information Commissioner, the Group has met four times in the last year, contributing to training of public authorities, the development of guidance and acting as a catalyst for the drafting and approval of model publication schemes. Its terms of reference and membership are at the end of this chapter and agendas, papers and minutes of the Group's meetings can be found on the Department's website.
Work of the Advisory Group in the last year• Monitoring progress on implementationThe Group has received regular updates at its meetings on the progress being made with implementing the Act in the different parts of the public sector. These have informed its discussions and knowledge of which types of authority are in need of encouragement and assistance from sectoral organisations, the Information Commissioner, or in some cases from the Whitehall department which has the national policy lead for their work. These discussions have also spread ideas on how best to take forward the work on implementation from one sector to another. The work undertaken by the Association of Chief Police Officers in setting up a project team to develop a model publication scheme and compliance toolkit for all police forces has been a specific example from which members of the Group have found useful to learn and to consider adapting for their own sector. The Advisory Group has contributed to the development of the codes of practice under sections 45 and 46 of the Act, which guide public authorities on the discharge of their functions under the Act and on records management. Its input was also valuable when considering the details of the timetable for implementing those parts of the Act which are not yet in force. The Group has also acted as a catalyst for the development of model publication schemes, by bringing together different parts of the public sector with the Information Commissioner. The first outcome of this has been the approval by the Commissioner, in August 2002, of a model publication scheme for parish, town and community councils, developed in conjunction with the National Association of Local Councils. • Receiving reports on preparations being made by the Information CommissionerAt each meeting the Information Commissioner has updated the Group on the progress being made by her office with implementing the Act. So far, this has largely concentrated on developing procedures for considering publication schemes submitted to the Commissioner's office for approval under section 19 of the Act. The Group has responded to these updates, commenting on a draft of guidance produced by the Commissioner for local authorities which set out the lessons learned from the operation of pilot publication schemes.
• Promoting a culture of transparency by assisting in development of training and education programmesMembers of the Advisory Group attended and spoke at the 'roadshow' seminars around the country organised by the Lord Chancellor's Department in the spring (see section 6.5). Members of the Group were able to pass on their own experience and expertise to those implementing the Act in public authorities, as well as hearing the concerns of those attending (and relaying these to the rest of the Group at its next meeting). This exercise also raised awareness of the existence of the Group and its role in assisting public authorities by identifying best practice and promoting culture change. Arising from its participation in the first series of seminars in the spring, the Group has considered what should succeed them. Whereas the first series of seminars were aimed at chief executives and other senior managers in public authorities, to try and impress upon them the need for a senior officer in each authority to take responsibility for implementation of the Act in each authority, a second series of seminars is likely to be aimed at 'practitioners' - those public servants who will be managing the day to day work of implementation. • Advising on the needs of users of the Act and how authorities might meet those needsThe experience of members of the Group has been valuable in considering how authorities might best meet the needs of those who will be using the Act. In particular, the Group has been keen to emphasise that authorities should draw on the experience they have gained from responding to requests under the Data Protection Act from individuals seeking information about themselves. The Group has advised though that authorities should not simply be expecting their data protection officers to handle implementation of the FOI Act as if it were merely an extension of that Act's rights of access. Implementing the Act successfully is a project which will need to draw upon the skills of records managers, lawyers, customer and public relations officers, information technology staff and training departments. To ensure that the constituent parts of authorities work together when implementing the Act, the Group has felt it important to stress that ownership of freedom of information needs to be taken at a senior level of management in each authority. The Group has made suggestions on the research which it believes should be commissioned by the Government and/or Commissioner to ensure that implementation of the Act proceeds as smoothly as possible and that it will be possible to measure the impact of the Act once it is fully in force. These have included how authorities and the Commissioner could or should monitor authorities' performance in handling requests; whether software used in other jurisdictions for logging and tracking requests should be evaluated; the creation and use of disclosure logs (which let the public see what information has been previously disclosed); longitudinal surveys to establish the extent of greater openness brought about by the Act; and surveys of both civil servants and public attitudes to the Act and how it is operated by public authorities and the Commissioner. The Lord Chancellor's Department is presently considering how best to take forward the proposals, with the issue of how to monitor the handling of requests a high priority.
| Issues the Group may be examining in the coming yearIn the coming year the Group is likely to give further attention to those areas in which it can best add value to the implementation of the Act, including the preparation and training needing to be undertaken by authorities in advance of the right of access coming into force. It is also likely to devote some time to examining information management issues for public authorities and how implementation of the Act can be linked to other initiatives (for example 'e-government') which also affect this aspect of authorities' work. The Group may also consider the lessons learned from the first phase of publication schemes to be adopted formally and how these can best be disseminated to those authorities still preparing their schemes for submission to the Commissioner in later phases. 
| Terms of ReferenceThe Terms of Reference of the Advisory Group on Implementation are as follows: To provide advice to the Lord Chancellor to assist him in preparing his annual report to Parliament in accordance with section 87(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by:
To undertake other tasks related to the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act as may be agreed by the Lord Chancellor and the Information Commissioner. The group will meet at least three times a year until the Act is fully implemented.'
| MembershipJOINT CHAIRMAN Yvette Cooper MP Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department Elizabeth France CBE The Information Commissioner (until September 2002, to be succeeded by Richard Thomas in December 2002) REPRESENTATIVES OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES James Leslie MLA and Denis Haughey MLA Junior Ministers in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland Assembly Jim Duvall Head of Information Services, The Local Government Association Ian Mark Senior Legal Executive, The National Association of Local Councils Ian Readhead Deputy Chief Constable, Hampshire Constabulary, The Association of Chief Police Officers Christine Miles Chief Executive, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, The Health Service Confederation Dr Michael Wilks Chairman of the Ethics Committee, The British Medical Association Michael Malone-Lee Vice-Chancellor, Anglia Polytechnic University, Universities UK Jane Phillips Chair, The National Association of Governors and Managers STAKEHOLDERS AND INDEPENDENT EXPERT MEMBERS Jonathan Baume General Secretary, The First Division Association Santha Rasaiah Political, Editorial and Regulatory Affairs Director, The Newspaper Society Maurice Frankel Director, The Campaign for Freedom of Information Christine Gifford former Metropolitan Police civil servant Professor Robert Hazell Director, The Constitution Unit, University College London David Hencke The Guardian Dr Dilys Jones former Department of Health and Home Office civil servant EXPERT PUBLIC AUTHORITY ADVISERS Nick Jordan Director of Investigations, The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Sarah Tyacke The Keeper of Public Records EX OFFICIO Graham Smith Deputy Information Commissioner Alan Cogbill Director of Civil Justice and Legal Services, Lord Chancellor's Department Lee Hughes Head of Freedom of Information and Data Protection Division, Lord Chancellor's Department Andrew Ecclestone Secretary to the Advisory Group and Head of Freedom of Information Implementation Branch, Lord Chancellor's Department
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