The Government plans to charge money when responding to certain requests for public information, the House of Assembly heard today.

The proposal drew a comeback from Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, who said that while some of the amendments to go into effect on January 1 would improve procedure, the imposition of a fee had been made without any formal consultation with her office or with the public.

Crystal Caesar, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, told MPs that “reasonable charges” were included in the Public Access to Information Amendment Bill 2024.

The minister said Pati, introduced in 2010, formed part of a “robust information rights framework that creates transparency and accountability”.

She said the fees proposed in the amendment, which were not specified in her statement, would limit time spent responding to requests and provide ”payments for requests where processing by the public authority exceeds this”.

She added that the Bill would “enhance cohesion and implementation of processes”, and update the functions of the Information Commissioner as well as information officers.

The amendment follows a plan to potentially charge $60 an hour for Pati requests that require more than 16 hours of work, introduced by Vance Campbell, the former Minister of Tourism and the Cabinet Office, in June 2023.

Mr Campbell said at the time: “The reasonable charges for Pati concept will require the implementation of a fee structure and will thus ensure that at least some of the costs of responding to requests are recouped.”

• To see Ms Caesar’s statement in full, see Related Media

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PATI Amendment Bill 2024.pdf