Hundreds of submissions on Government's Public Access to Information (PATI) bill are available to view at the Cabinet Office for the first time.

Premier Ewart Brown told the House of Assembly: "It is important to this Government to share with the very public who participated in the development of this public policy just what was said and how."

Public consultation on the legislation — which was approved by MPs on Friday — prompted more than 500 submissions at the end of last year, an amount described by overseas experts as "amazing". Dr. Brown told MPs: "The Government worked hard to obtain substantive and meaningful feedback on the bill. Presentations were made to the general public, civil society groups, Rotary and on the local airwaves. Following these efforts, we were inundated with submissions and received over 500 comments on the bill.

"The people decided to speak and not only on talk shows and in barber shops and boat clubs; people chose to speak directly to their Government. And it should be no surprise that we listened."

He said Government responded to a number of suggestions by:

• Making the law fully retrospective;

• Narrowing the number of exemptions from PATI to allow "significantly more information" to be obtained by requesters;

• Requiring the Minister responsible for PATI to get MPs approval before making regulations, including on which public bodies are exempt; and

• Providing protection from prosecution for civil servants and those employed by public authorities who release information in good faith under the legislation.

The Premier said the Public Access to Information Act 2010 would give citizens a statutory right to request and obtain information and a right to a review and appeal when information was withheld.

"There are a number of great objects of this bill," he said. "For the single parent interested in getting his child into a particular school, or the descendants of war pensioners who want to know why they have been denied benefits of equal measure, or the hospital patient who wants access to her medical records, this legislation is for them.

"For those who believe in a better Bermuda and want insight into the sustainability of our waste methods, the efficacy of zero-based budgeting or how Government's policies strengthen Bermudian culture, this legislation will give them access to the answers.

"And for those who seek justice and redress predicated upon access to information, this legislation will empower them."

UBP MP John Barritt told the House on Friday that freedom of information had been a long-standing plank of his party's platform. The Royal Gazette, meanwhile, has called for FOI since the launch of our A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign in January 2008.

Dr. Brown insisted on Friday that the PLP "did not simply answer the call for public access to information — we made the call" and Health Minister Walter Roban said a clear promise was made by the party in 1998 for more transparent government.

The Premier said: "Every ministry and department of government, every quango, every parish council and every board and committee will be covered by this legislation and required to provide information to members of the public both proactively and upon request.

"From Government House to the Office of the Premier to the Bermuda Police Service to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the light will shine on these and every other public authority."

He said the public would be able to exercise their right to know within the next two to three years and efforts were already being made to establish a Public Access to Information Unit.

The Act makes records submitted to Cabinet exempt from PATI and Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons asked Dr. Brown if everything discussed by Cabinet would be blocked from disclosure.

The Premier replied: "No. There will be issues in this legislation which are going to be tested and we can't predict now which ones they are. We are starting off with a document that we think is a strong document but it's the first time. Rest assured that the intentions are pure."