No freedom of information

In narrowboatworld Allan Richards informs us that Waterways Minister Richard Benyon is considering a U-turn on whether the new Canal & River Trust will be compliant with the Freedom of Information Act, writes Frank Hurst.

Openness and accountability

The act advises compliance because 'The Freedom of Information Act 2000 aims to increase openness and accountability in government by ensuring that people have the right to access information held by public authorities'.

So why should a newly formed authority deem themselves above such legislation, what have they got to hide from the end user? It seems ominous to me that the boating fraternity of Great Britain should suffer such a retrograde step in the protection afforded to them by this act, how else are we to hold organisations to book and ensure fairness, openness and honesty, especially after the abysmal record of the preceding organisation.

To take a stand

I suggest we need to have our boating organisations such as the Inland Waterways Association, Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs etc to take a stand, and object to this loss of accountability, if not it would seem that the first fatality on the waterways under the new authority of Canal & River Trust will be truth and transparency, which is more resonant of a tin pot dictatorship rather than a country considered to have the Mother of Parliaments.