Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

UK government must abolish ‘pernicious’ unit blocking FOI requests, says senior Tory

David Davis said Cabinet Office’s ‘Clearing House’ unit should be scrapped, and criticised ‘political strategy’ of withholding information

By Adam Bychawski
UK government must abolish ‘pernicious’ unit blocking FOI requests, says senior Tory
Cabinet Office secretary Michael Gove has faced calls for an inquiry into how FOIs are handled | REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Published:
Share

A senior Conservative MP has called on the UK government to "abolish"  an 'Orwellian' unit accused of interfering with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Last year, openDemocracy revealed that the 'Clearing House' unit within the Cabinet Office instructs Whitehall departments on how to respond to FOI requests and shares personal information about journalists.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said that the Clearing House’s screening of FOI requests was a "pernicious action" and  that the unit should be abolished, during an openDemocracy live discussion on Tuesday.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0