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Cabinet Office’s actions ‘increase suspicion’ about secretive FOI unit, MPs told

The government department refused to allow a probe into its ‘Orwellian’ Clearing House unit in the wake of openDemocracy legal victory

By Jenna Corderoy
Cabinet Office’s actions ‘increase suspicion’ about secretive FOI unit, MPs told
Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, said she was ‘frustrated and disappointed’ in the Cabinet Office | The Information Commissioner’s Office. CC BY-SA 4.0
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The Cabinet Office’s refusal to subject itself to an official probe has “increased suspicion” about its secretive Clearing House unit, according to the UK’s information regulator.

Last year, openDemocracy revealed the existence of the Clearing House, which has been accused of ‘blacklisting’ Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from journalists.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee launched in the wake of openDemocracy’s investigations, the outgoing information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, said her office had offered to carry out an audit of the Clearing House following openDemocracy’s tribunal victory earlier this year. The offer was rejected by the government.

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