This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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UK government’s ‘Orwellian’ FOI unit interfered in Grenfell fire FOI requests

By:   []

Date: 2021-09 

The UK government’s controversial Freedom of Information (FOI) screening unit told the housing department to alter responses to requests for information about the Grenfell Tower fire, openDemocracy can reveal.

The Clearing House, a Cabinet Office unit that vets FOI requests from journalists and others, is the subject of two ongoing inquiries. Concerns were previously raised about the extent to which the unit allows the government to coordinate FOI responses.

Now, openDemocracy has found that the secretive unit interfered in responses to FOI requests sent to the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, which claimed 72 lives in 2017.

The Grenfell fire led to a surge in FOI requests, with a desire for greater transparency from the government about what had happened – as well as greater transparency around building regulations and fire safety.

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But just days after the tragedy, the Clearing House wrote to the housing department, saying: “It would be helpful if we could see a list of responses you have received so far along with how you intend to reply to each individual request.”

The Clearing House also “suggested advice” on what information should be made public. But the government has now refused to release this advice, claiming that doing so “would unacceptably erode the thinking space” of officials.

Emails released to openDemocracy have been heavily redacted, with the advice removed.

In at least one instance, the Clearing House interfered to block information from being released. In an email to the housing department, the Clearing House wrote: “We’re content with these draft responses apart from [REDACTED]”. After that follows three lines of blacked-out text.

openDemocracy has appealed against the government’s decision not to release the emails in full.

In emails, Clearing House staff also asked the housing department to sign off on responses to requests for information about Grenfell.
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-information/uk-governments-orwellian-foi-unit-interfered-in-grenfell-fire-foi-requests/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
    
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