Free Information
Harriet Jones considers the impact of the new Freedom of Information Act on students of contemporary history.
We shall finally gain a statutory right to freedom of information in the United Kingdom this summer, when the Freedom of Information Act receives the nod from the Queen. Scotland, which is to have its own Act, will follow some time in the coming year. Contemporary historians are affected by the new legislation, because the Act will amend the Public Records Act 1958 and alter the present arrangements regarding the release of historical records. This might be a very good thing. But the success of the new statutory regime will depend largely upon the use that we as historians make of it, and there are some lingering grounds for concern.
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