The timetable for the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to start has now been set in law under an appointed day order made by the Council of Ministers.

Island residents will be able to submit FOI requests – initially only to the Cabinet Office and to the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture – from February 1 next year.

The regime will be extended in stages over the following two years to other Departments and all public authorities, including local authorities, so that the Act is due to be fully in force by February 1, 2018.

In the meantime the public can still obtain information from all areas of Government under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which has been in place since 1996 and will be retained alongside the FOI regime to cover requests that fall outside its scope.

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK said: ‘The implementation of the FOI Act delivers on this administration’s pledge to strengthen the operation of open government in the Isle of Man by giving residents a legal right to gain information from public bodies.

‘Reaching this point has taken a lot of time and effort, but we are now less than six months away from the day when the first FOI requests can be submitted.’

The Freedom of Information Act received Royal Assent in June this year having been passed by the branches of Tynwald following public consultation.