controversial government review of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act will start to take evidence at the end of this month. 

The Independent Commission on Freedom of Information has said, in response to an email inquiry, that there will be a “public call for evidence towards the end of September”.

The Commission, which isn’t covered by the very legislation it is scrutinizing, said: “Information about the format of responses will be contained in the paper, which will be available on the Commission’s website”.

Since the Commission was announced in July it has made no comments or statements about any work, if any, that it has completed. FOI requests to the Cabinet Office, the sponsoring government department, asking for more information about the review have been refused.

The body, which contains several high-profile members, is due to produce its final report by the end of November.

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.