Data watchdog steps in over IT project reviews
Kable
Published: 24 Jun 2009 10:27 BST
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has been told to publish the results of its Gateway Reviews into several major IT projects.
In a decision notice dated 10 June 2009, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the OGC must comply with a 2006 request for the 'traffic light' status and recommendations of Gateway Reviews of "high-risk IT-related projects" at several departments.
The relevant reviews were carried out over the past year and dealt with projects in the Home Office, the Department of Health and NHS Connecting for Health, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Child Support Agency.
The OGC had previously argued that revealing the traffic-light status of a project, where a red light shows a project should immediately address problems raised before continuing, would remove the confidentiality of Gateway Reviews.
However, on 19 June, the Department of Health released all Gateway Reviews for the National Programme for IT between 2002 and 2007, apparently edited only to remove some names. In March the OGC released two such reviews of the identity-card programme from 2003 and 2004.
While the ICO's decision agrees that the OGC was right to withhold some information supplied by or relating to bodies dealing with security matters, it said it must release what had previously been withheld on other grounds, "as the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure".
The OGC has 35 calendar days to comply. A spokesperson commented: "We note the information commissioner's decision on a specific FoI [Freedom of Information] request received in 2006 and we will respond by the deadline required.
"The Information Tribunal stated earlier this year that neither they nor the information commissioner believe all Gateway Reviews should be disclosed. OGC is committed to transparency and public accountability, which is evident in the emphasis we have placed on publishing the results of a wide range of OGC activities, such as the Procurement Capability Reviews and delivery plans on sustainable procurement and operations on the government estate."
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