Publication of independent reviews into the government's
ID cards project would set a precedent that would lead to open
confrontation between government departments, a freedom of
information tribunal heard last week.
Peter Gershon, the former civil servant responsible for
introducing
Gateway reviews of government IT projects, said
that publication of reports into the ID cards programme would
seriously undermine the confidentiality essential to the success of
the Gateway review scheme.
Gershon, former head of the Office of Government Commerce, said that any
publication of adverse comments in reports would provoke a backlash
from the government department under scrutiny.
"They will say 'we will go public and make it clear we don't
agree with the report,'" he said. "The whole department will muster
its defences and resources, so it becomes public that we don't
agree with it."
Giving evidence during a four-day hearing which will decide
whether the government should release Gateway reviews into the
business case for ID cards, Gershon said the government could
either be open or have an effective scrutiny process - but not
both.
Gateway reviews offered a safe space for government officials to
speak candidly and unguardedly, said Gershon, and this trust would
be seriously undermined if officials thought their views could
become public.
The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, has already ruled
that the reports should be disclosed. The government's data
watchdog is using the hearing to argue that there should be no
blanket exemption for Gateway reviews under the Freedom of
Information Act.
The tribunal heard that civil servants were already protected by
anonymity in Gateway reports, because any views reported were not
attributed to individuals.
Tim Pitt Payne, barrister for the information commissioner,
suggested that civil servants were more likely to be worried about
how their comments might affect their careers when they were read
by managers than the risk of a report becoming public.
Watchdog attacked
in ID cards battle
More on the ID
cards project
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