The Cabinet Office has spent almost £40,000 on a legal battle to stop openDemocracy finding out about Clearing House
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The Cabinet Office spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to stop openDemocracy finding out about its ‘Orwellian’ Clearing House unit, the government has admitted.
The Clearing House has been accused of blacklisting journalists and blocking their Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Investigations by openDemocracy have revealed how it helped suppress sensitive information on issues ranging from Grenfell Tower to the contaminated blood scandal.
SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said it was time for the Cabinet Office to “stop behaving like a rogue department”.
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The Cabinet Office spent months fighting openDemocracy in 2020 and 2021 through an information tribunal to prevent the disclosure of information about the Clearing House. It has now admitted legal action cost the department £38,723.16.
openDemocracy won the case in April last year. Judge Chris Hughes excoriated the government in his ruling, saying documents the Cabinet Office presented in court about the Clearing House were "misleading" and noting a “profound lack of transparency about the operation”, which might “extend to ministers”.
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) subsequently launched a parliamentary inquiry into the operations of the Clearing House. But last week, the Cabinet Office's permanent secretary admitted his colleagues still hadn’t appointed anyone to lead the internal review they promised five months ago.
Lownie told openDemocracy that both Southampton University and the Cabinet Office had refused to disclose their costs in appealing against the ICO’s decision to release the diaries.
He said: “Here is yet another example of the government wasting taxpayers’ money on trying to frustrate a legitimate FOI request. They complain they have not got the resources to respond to FOI requests, yet somehow find the resources to deny them.”
He added: “Good government depends on trust and transparency especially in difficult times. That is sadly increasingly lacking. If governments do not obey the law, why should the citizen?”
When openDemocracy revealed the existence of the unit in 2020, NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet called it “Orwellian”.
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