Freedoms bill extends FoI

The new requirements have been included in the newly published government's freedoms bill, which also includes the extension of the act to more organisations. Among the amendments are that public authorities will be required to provide material released from FoI requests "in an electronic form capable of re-use", and to keep republishing the latest versions of datasets successfully requested by the public under FoI. It also extends the scope of FoI to "the wider public sector". In January the Ministry of Justice said this would take in bodies including the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Services Ombudsman and higher education admissions body Ucas. It will also apply to companies wholly owned by public authorities, and the MoJ is planning a consultation on making a range of other bodies – including examination boards, harbour authorities, the Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation – subject to the act. Information commissioner Christopher Graham said the moves would provide his office with greater independence. CCTV and ANPR to get commissioner and code This article is published by Guardian Professional