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The Government received a total of 1,100 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2014, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (January 16).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of September 2014 amounted to 43,904. Of these, 2,484 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 1,963 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information. As at September 30, 2014, 170 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.
Among the 39,287 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 38,357 requests (97.6 per cent) were met, either in full (37,536 requests) or in part (821 requests), and 930 requests (2.4 per cent) were refused.
Any member of the public who is dissatisfied with the response of a bureau/department under the Code may request that the matter be reviewed. He or she may also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.
In the third quarter of 2014, the Ombudsman received 16 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman completed the investigation of 14 complaints. Of these 14 completed cases, one was substantiated, two were unsubstantiated and 11 were concluded and settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman. As at September 30, 2014, the Ombudsman was still investigating 16 complaint cases.
"The statistics show that Government bureaux and departments have been complying with the Code to the general satisfaction of members of the public," the spokesman said.
Ends/Friday, January 16, 2015
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