Senior Whitehall sources (of the Indepedent) have said the Department for Education’s performance while being monitored by the Information Commissioner over late responses to Freedom of Information requests has been “borderline.”

The Independent report:

Legal action against the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has not been ruled out by the data protection watchdog following serious failures by the Department for Education to improve its record in answering Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

The prospect of a legal battle, which would be likely to involve a number of close Gove aides, will do little for the morale of his government department, widely regarded as being under siege following a raft of controversial reforms demanded by Mr Gove.

Among the unanswered FOIs are requests that Mr Gove publish both official and private exchanges of emails, text messages  and transcripts of phone calls sent between two of his close advisers and officials in 10 Downing Street.

You can read the full story here.

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.