300 working days
For some time I've been feeling a little bit guilty towards the Foreign Office. But only a little - and yesterday I had the chance to put matters right.
I recorded a clip for a package on the PM programme yesterday evening about the report of the Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee - see entry below.
In it I explained how I asked the Foreign Office for various exchanges with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. And the Foreign Office sent me more information than the Swedes did in response to a similar request. So - in contrast to Downing Street - perhaps the Foreign Office can claim to be more open than the famously open Swedes.
I would have made this point in September last year in a Radio 4 documentary I produced about how freedom of information was working so far. However I was unable to do so. Although I put the request to the Foreign Office in January 2005, I didn't receive the response until April 2006 (and it needed the intervention of the Information Commissioner's office).
I calculate the length of time involved as being 300 working days.
And what was the Foreign Office's explanation for the delay? An administrative oversight due to the fact that the officer initially dealing with my case had since left the department.
Still I feel the Foreign Office is entitled to a little bit of positive publicity for its comparative openness. And at least the world now knows.
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