Gateway privacy under debate

Government may have to publish details of ID card scheme reviews

Leigh: supporting openness

The government may be forced to publish confidential internal reviews of the identity card scheme, following an Information Tribunal decision last week.

Treasury agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which runs the Gateway monitoring process, has 14 days to appeal against the decision and take the case to the High Court.

The tribunal hearing was itself the result of an earlier OGC appeal against Information Commissioner Richard Thomas’ decision that review documents should be released in response to a request in January 2005 made under the Freedom of Information Act.

The OGC says publishing results will fundamentally damage the Gateway process, by making project staff wary of talking frankly to the review teams.

But Tribunal chairman John Angel is not convinced.

‘We find that the grave consequences for the Gateway process, which [the OGC] maintains would result from even the remotest possibility that reports would be disclosed, is overstated,’ says the formal decision notice.

‘The Tribunal has considered all the circumstances of this case and finds that the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.’

But Thomas says releasing Gateway information could improve project delivery.

‘Disclosure is likely to enhance public debate of issues such as the programme’s feasibility and how it is managed,’ he said.

The Gateway reviews’ red-amber-green gradings are of increasing interest to parliament, particularly for problematic government IT programmes.

A select committee investigating the Rural Payments Agency system, which left farmers £22m short last year, found that the technology programme had gone ahead despite receiving three red lights. And the Treasury’s own problematic tax credits system skipped three early reviews when it went live in 2003.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), says there is a strong case for releasing the information. ‘PAC members support openness in the publication of reviews in the Gateway process,’ he said.

The OGC has no official comment, but has not yet ruled out a further appeal.