I am absolutely committed to this as the alternative as someone said at the meeting is that you would be supporting secrecy. Yes it has to be tailored to suit our resources, it cannot be overly bureaucratic, and we must make sure that personal information and legitimate commercial information remains confidential but we must have openness and transparency.
There is a lot we can do already and what we will push for first is a policy on open information that clearly sets out what can be published. To avoid doubt my preference will be to list the kind of documents that will be made available as we need to support public servants in being clear about what they can release. From my experience from working in government,without clear guidance the default position is to not release anything and then a culture of self-censorship arises.
I know that we talk about the special needs of a small community but I am less sure that this makes us exceptional. True it is harder to ensure anonymity but lets face it most people know what is going on even when information is not released. I think it is time we be more grown up and just get the information out there.
A great quote from Joseph Pulitzer
There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle which does not live by secrecy. Get these things out in the open,describe them, ridicule them in the press, and sooner or later public opinion will sweep them away
And for those who think that it might not be necessary or that there are other priorities I found a speech from the Health Minister Jeremy Hunt addressing the shocking failures of some NHS hospitals as a result of lax safety and a culture of secrecy.
We need to restore faith in our government and our council
As the island develops and we become more accessible to the outside world the potential for the dodge or swindle increases.
Let us treat the public with respect and let them know what we are doing
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