Speaking on Tuesday at a BT Public Policy Forum, Lord Filkin said:
"without information, members of the public cannot participate in the decisions that affect their daily lives. This Government wishes to see citizens equipped to play an active role in the work of public bodies, which exist to serve them."
Some parts of the Act are already in force, but when the substantive provisions come into force on 1st January 2005, giving new rights to citizens, enabling them to demand a broad range of information regarding the actions and decisions of all public bodies.
According to Lord Filkin, the provisions of the Act will allow decisions to be effectively scrutinised, will build trust and credibility among members of the general public and also bring benefits to the public bodies themselves by acting as a driver for better records and information management in the public sector.
The Minister called upon public authorities to embrace five key changes in the way in which they work:
All those who contribute to decisions taken by public authorities will have to become aware of their obligations towards the Freedom of Information legislation.
Staff in public authorities will have to be trained to use clear procedures in order to respond to requests from members of the public within the 20-day timetable specified by the legislation.
Public authorities will need to get their records in order.
Each public authority will need to have a champion at board level responsible for promoting Freedom of Information.
There will have to be a real change in staff culture from a system whereby citizens are told only that which public authorities think they need to know, to one in which citizens are entitled to have access to a broad range of information.
The Freedom of Information Act provides for Publication Schemes, which will give details of the classes of information that an authority makes available and how they are accessible. The police, police authorities, Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office and the armed forces will have their publication schemes in force by the end of June as part of the timetable by which the 100,000 public bodies in the UK will register with the Information Commissioner.
Public authorities in Northern Ireland are introducing publication schemes roughly in line with their counterparts in England and Wales.
The Scottish Parliament has enacted separate Freedom of Information legislation.