Despite complaints, U.K. complies with FOI levels.

• Position: UP FRONT - Freedom of Information Act - Brief Article

A U.K. government watchdog commission has received more than 1,000 complaints since January about authorities failing to comply with the country's new Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, but it says public bodies are taking the requests seriously.

The U.K.'s FOI Act, introduced January 1, 2005, gave the public the right to request access to information held by 100,000 public bodies and government departments. Under the law, those bodies and departments have 20 days to provide the information or explain why it cannot be provided.

As of July 2005, the Information Commission (IC) had received 1,157 complaints about refusals to disclose information or failure to meet the 20-day deadline. The IC has issued decision notices on 19 of these although many have been resolved informally.

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