The UK government has spent at least half a million pounds on legal fees trying to prevent the release of information under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation over the last five years, openDemocracy can reveal.
At least six government departments spent heavily on legal battles challenging decisions by the information regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Department of Health and Social Care spent over a quarter of a million pounds on legal costs challenging decisions by the ICO that they must release information under FOI, including spending more than £129,000 fighting on a single case to try and stop the release of ministerial diaries.
