All quiet on freedom of information front
WHAT we've got here is a failure to communicate.
WHAT we've got here is a failure to communicate.
It was a line delivered twice in the 1967 film, Cool Hand Luke, and one that still resonates today.
Try as it might, the lines of communication coming out from the States, and even within it, still seem to suffer from interference or have been simply cut off altogether.
Every shoot of hope that emerges – open meetings for waste, the States Assembly & Constitution Committee and extensive consultation exercises such as Guernsey Tomorrow – end up as exceptions rather than the rule.
It appears there is still a fear of telling people too much and, to avoid that, it is better to tell them nothing at all.
And that extends to States members communicating with each other – the silos and barriers have not been broken down yet.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Lyndon Trott will be asked what progress has been made on investigating a freedom of information regime for Guernsey – a principle accepted the world over.
The irony will be lost on no one that there has not been any public update on this since he announced it would be looked into last year – the principle being that the States is the custodian of information, not the owner of it.
Freedom of information legislation may be fit for Guernsey, but it might be too burdensome to administer.
We do not know yet, but what it would bring about is a pro-active climate, a presumption for making things public, unless there is a compelling reason for not doing so.
But in many ways a culture change would mean the legislation is unnecessary.
So why has the free flow of information not happened anyway?
Why is access to public records so limited?
Why is one of government's prime tools for making information available – its own website – so derided as unfathomable by those using it?
All the early signs were that this government would make communicating its message a priority.
So what happened?
It is hard to know.
Other issues took precedence – projects that are more high profile and sexy maybe.
A few hard knocks in the media might have thrown others off this course.
If there is a communication strategy, why has no one asked representatives in the media for their views?
It seems there has been a desire for some sort of regime to ensure access to public records – surely one strand of a dialogue with the public for a decade now.
In his response to the Public Accounts Committee's heritage assets report, HM Procureur Nik van Leuven said a preliminary paper on public records legislation was prepared in 1999.
This would not go as far as a freedom of information act, but would at least be one small step on the way.
'Jersey has introduced public records legislation but not yet a freedom of information regime, as has the Isle of Man, and I have to say that Guernsey's lack of progress in this area is disappointing,' said Mr Van Leuven in the letter dated January 2008.
He added that the Jersey regime could be a useful model for Guernsey.
The UK Public Records Act of 1958 provided for a 30-year rule. Generally after that period, government records become publicly available.
Its application locally is questionable, according to Mr van Leuven, due to the sensitivity of documents relating to the Occupation.
'However, I can say that that the precept of public access to records is of fundamental importance, if only because of the truth in the dictum that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat its mistakes,' he said.
Progress in communication from the States has been painful.
Some would point the finger at the media, which must share some of the burden, but in truth that is a weak argument and one that again simply means going on the defensive rather than solving the problem.
For all the PR firms involved and the civil servants employed to deliver a message, too often it is a frustrating wall of diversion that greets requests from the public and reporters, leaving conjecture and assumption to fill the gaps where information should be.
In America there has been a regime change and with it the desire for a change in culture.
In his inauguration speech Barack Obama had these words to say about openness which should ring true over here:
'And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.'
