ABSTRACT
The continuous publication of news stories about parliamentarians' expenses in 2009 gave particular resonance to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2000. The FoI Act has been proving its worth, it has been argued, by extracting information from a reluctant system. In the high performing local authorities there is a very strong element of effective leadership in local governance. The highly centralised relationship is a big piece of the tapestry against which a consideration of access to information in local government must take place. FoI and access to information have helped to provide an infrastructure to ensure openness in local government but other drivers are needed for improving participation in local democracies. The FoI legalisation whilst forcing the publication of material that might not otherwise have reached the public arena, has also had the effect of driving the decision-making processes further back with often intricate devices being created to facilitate political discussion.
