[Ramrod]

Not to mention this from todays Times

PEOPLE will have to pay for information about their local schools, hospitals and councils under secret plans being considered by ministers, The Times has learnt.

An about-turn on the newly implemented Freedom of Information Act has been prompted by a series of embarrassing revelations about the inner workings of government. The cost of responding to requests has also proved so expensive for civil servants to administer that a charge for information is being seen as the only alternative.

The move could deter thousands of people who so far have used the Act in its first year to find out about local services, as well as to cast light on the size of subsidies paid to Britainââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s wealthiest landowners and discover how ministers had blocked the civil marriage of Princess Margaret.

Bills running into hundreds of pounds could be sent to people with complicated multiple requests, even if the authority ultimately refuses to supply them with the information.