Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour) Peer. Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs.

His responsibilities as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs cover constitutional issues generally, including devolution; data protection; freedom of information; human rights; electoral law; custody and exercise of the Great Seal; judicial appointments and all matters related to the judiciary and lay magistracy; procedural rules, appointments to rule committees/advisory councils, fees as applicable in criminal justice, civil justice, family justice and administrative justice; HM Court Services; the Tribunals Service; the Land Registry; the Northern Ireland Court Service; the Law Commission; public records; the National Archives; the Crown dependencies; legal aid; regulation of the legal professions.

Issues

One supporter has written to Lord Falconer of Thoroton.

Privacy

Written Ministerial Statement Data Protection 7 February 2007

Department for Constitutional Affairs Tougher penalties for misuse of personal data 8 February 2007

"People have a right to have their privacy protected from those who would deliberately misuse it and I believe the introduction of custodial penalties will be an effective deterrent to those who seek to procure or wilfully abuse personal data,"

"Greater data-sharing within the public sector has the potential to be hugely beneficial to the public and is wholly compatible with proper respect for individuals' privacy. One of the essential ways of maintaining that compatibility is to ensure the security and integrity of personal data once it has been shared."

Freedom of Information

Speech by Lord Falconer of Thoroton at the Lord Williams of Mostyn Memorial Lecture 21 March 2007

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The government approaches openness on the basis of improving how government operates, for the benefit of the public... the job of government is not to provide page leads for papers, but information for the citizen. Freedom of information was never considered to be a research arm for the media.

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Openness is not an absolute good in itself. Openness is good where openness is of benefit, crucially of benefit to the public [that] governments are here to serve.

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But people, not the press, must be the priority. Information itself is the key. Not those whose primary business is to purvey information to others, whether on air, on line or on paper.

Freedom of information provides a right to know, not a right to tell.

Fundamentally, FOI is not for press it is for the people.

Links

Lord Falconer of Thoroton TheyWorkForYou.com
Lord Falconer of Thoroton Wikipedia

News

2007-03-25 - The Observer (comment is free) - Stop treating us like children, Lord Falconer: Author: Henry Porter; Summary: Few members of the government manage to finesse with quite the charm and affability of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer. He lectures us on Magna Carta and boasts about government openness without the slightest sign of personal unease or, for that matter, criticism. But with the announcement on the new rules concerning the Freedom of Information Act, the game is surely up. In a little-reported lecture on budget day, he said: 'The government approaches openness on the basis of improving how government operates, for the benefit of the public... the job of government is not to provide page leads for papers, but information for the citizen. Freedom of information was never considered to be a research arm for the media.'

2007-03-22 - The Independent - Freedom of Information Act misused, says Falconer: Author: Robert Verkaik; Summary: Ministers were yesterday accused of adopting a "bunker" mentality after the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, launched an all-out assault on the media over its alleged misuse of the freedom of information laws. Lord Falconer last night told journalists that they must stop using the Freedom of Information Act to mount fishing expeditions aimed at uncovering stories about the government.

2007-03-22 - The Independent - The retreat from open government: Summary: Delivering the Lord Williams of Mostyn memorial lecture last night, Lord Falconer declared that the Freedom of Information Act introduced by his Government has "opened up Whitehall and beyond in ways unimagined, unattempted and unrealised by any previous government in the UK". But it soon became clear that the Lord Chancellor had come not to praise the Freedom of Information Act, but to water it down.

2007-03-21 - The Independent - Plan to curb access to freedom of information would be 'unworkable': Author: Robert Verkaik; Summary: The Government's proposals to reduce access to Britain's freedom of information laws will be unworkable and add to the bureaucracy of Whitehall, the legislation's independent watchdog has warned. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, says he has "grave doubts" over measures aimed at curbing the right of MPs, campaign groups and the media to use the powers. ... Under the changes, an estimated 17,000 requests for information could be refused, saving £5.7m. It will mean that MPs, campaign groups and journalists will have to ration requests or risk their inquiries being automatically rejected. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, is understood to be committed to the changes to reduce the increasing burden of administration on civil servants.

2007-02-16 - The Register - Only some data thieves face two-year prison threat: Summary: ... Plans to jail offenders were announced last week by the DCA as amendments to the Data Protection Act (DPA). There is currently no jail term for the offences. "People have a right to have their privacy protected from those who would deliberately misuse it and I believe the introduction of custodial penalties will be an effective deterrent to those who seek to procure or wilfully abuse personal data," said Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. The penalties relate to an offence created by Section 55 of the DPA, which makes it an offence to sell or offer to sell personal data which has been obtained without the consent of the data controller.

2007-02-08 - eGov monitor - Tougher penalties for misuse of personal data: Summary: Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, said: "We are determined to do all we can to stamp out this intrusive and illegal trade." "People have a right to have their privacy protected from those who would deliberately misuse it and I believe the introduction of custodial penalties will be an effective deterrent to those who seek to procure or wilfully abuse personal data." "Greater data-sharing within the public sector has the potential to be hugely beneficial to the public and is wholly compatible with proper respect for individuals' privacy. One of the essential ways of maintaining that compatibility is to ensure the security and integrity of personal data once it has been shared."

2007-02-07 - The Register - UK to jail data thieves for two years: Summary: People who steal personal data in the UK will face up to two years' jail, the Government announced today. ... Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, is "delighted" the government has heeded his advice.

2006-12-15 - The Independent - Proposed curbs on Freedom of Information: Author: Matthew Beard; Summary: Attempts to unearth government secrets using the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act will be severely curtailed under plans outlined yesterday. FoI inquiries will be restricted not just on the basis of cost but also the time taken to deal with them, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, proposed in a consultation paper. The proposals would particularly affect MPs, journalists, campaign groups and researchers keen to discover Whitehall information.

2006-10-16 - The Register - UK govt plans to hobble FoI, while hailing its success: Author: Lucy Sherriff; Summary: The Department for Constitutional Affairs is considering changes to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act that would make it easier for public sector organisations to refuse requests on grounds of unreasonable cost. ... the Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs says in its seventh report that neither requesters of information nor public authorities were in favour of changes to the legislation "at this stage". ... Despite this, Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, said the Act had been a great success: "Freedom of Information has benefited the people - that's what it was intended for and we need to continue to build on its success," he said. "But Freedom of Information has to be balanced with good government. It would be wrong not to make adjustments in light of experience and make sure we get the balance right between the provision of services and the provision of information."

2006-02-15 - The Register - DCA outlines local election pilots: Summary: The government has chosen 16 local authorities to experiment with new ways of voting in the forthcoming local elections. Constitutional affairs secretary Lord Falconer this week announced a series of pilots as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to modernise the electoral system. Falconer said the emphasis of the pilots was on finding new ways of administering the electoral process rather than changing the system wholesale. The chosen councils will trial a number of innovations, including the increased use of electronic processes in voting.

2005-01-10 - The Register - Consultant 'army' already busy on UK ID card scheme: Author: John Lettice; Summary: The UK's ID scheme, which the Government intends to railroad through its commons committee stage within the next three weeks, already has more than 80 people working on it, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats and published in the Daily Telegraph today. ... There have been Freedom of Information Act requests for the Gateway data (notably by Spy Blog, which is monitoring progress on a number of FOIA requests), but the Home Office is likely to resist disclosures, and Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer has reportedly ruled out the release of legal advice related to the ID scheme.

2004-10-18 - The Register - Government FOI Act chief trails Data Act 'reform': Author: John Lettice; Summary: Government constitutional affairs secretary Lord Falconer has described the Data Protection Act as "almost incomprehensible" and says that there are "medium term" plans to simplify the Act and its treatment of personal information. The Act was brought in in 1998 by the then-new Blair government, but its near incomprehensibility seems not to have been a major issue at the time.

2003-06-05 - The Register - UK ID cards – the incredible shrinking consultation: Author: John Lettice; Summary: UK Home Secretary David Blunkett plans legislation to introduce ID cards this autumn, but possibly has a small problem in transforming the verdict of what must surely have been a heavily anti ID card public consultation into a favourable one. The Home Office does however seem to be trying. Some months back Home Office minister Lord Falconer happily said the consultation was running in favour of the cards, which were then pitched as "entitlement cards." The heroic number of "people and organisations" who'd then commented amounted to 1,500, but this was swiftly overturned by an extra 6,000 whipped up by Privacy International and stand.org.

2003-01-24 - The Register - UK.gov poised for climb-down on ID cards?: Author: John Lettice; Summary: The UK government's plan for an "entitlement" (aka ID card) may be undergoing serious revision and downscaling, reports BBC news. Home Office Minister Lord Falconer, who in December was pitching the scheme in glowing terms, and claiming the British public favoured it, seems to have been preparing for a swift retreat.

2003-01-24 - BBC - Doubts over ID card scheme: Summary: The UK Government could abandon proposals for a national identity card scheme. Speaking at a conference on the future of ID cards organised by tech industry body Intellect, Home Office Minister Lord Falconer told delegates that the scheme may never come to fruition. "We may not proceed with the scheme and if we do it will take several years," he said.

2003-01-13 - The Register - Public overwhelmingly supports ID cards, claims UK.gov: Author: John Lettice; Summary: The British public is voting enthusiastically for ID cards, claims Home Office minister and long-standing Blair bagman Lord Falconer. Or at least, the "around 1,500 people and organisations [who] have sent in their comments" to the current consultation exercise have split two to one in favour, while "450 volunteers" who're apparently being experimented on are even more pro.

2002-10-09 - The Register - Want to teach in the UK? Give us your bank password then: Author: John Lettice; Summary: ... So Falconer is actually confirming that Baroness Blatch's fanciful and far-fetched allegation is true, and furthermore he sees nothing wrong with it. It is not clear what relevance your bank personal security word would be to checking that you're you, unless of course the government has access to it already. Or, ahem, was planning to give itself access to it as a matter of course before the snoopers' charter had its nasty little accident.

2002-04-12 - The Register - UK Govt backs data sharing: Author: Tim Richardson; Summary: The privacy of UK citizens could be under threat following the publication of a report which outlines plans for Government departments to share personal information without people's consent. ... Launching the report on behalf of the Government yesterday Lord Falconer admitted: "Government needs to earn people's trust when to comes to collecting and using personal information about them. "But we can then repay that trust with services that are much more closely tailored to individual needs," he said

2000-11-14 - The Register - RIP just got scarier: Author: Kieren McCarthy; Summary: Changes to Freedom of Information Act may withhold any RIP checking system. A suggested amendment to the Freedom of Information Act, put forward by Lord Falconer, aims to automatically exempt all cases of Tribunals concerning the RIP Act from disclosure.