Ministers increasingly reluctant to answer citizens' requests for information

Ministries are slower and slower to respond to requests to share information with, for example, citizens and journalists. In 2023, they had to wait an average of 172 days for documents they requested through the Open Government Act (Woo). That is five days longer than a year earlier and well above the legal 28-day timeframe, report researchers from the Institute of Social Innovation (IMI), the Open State Foundation, and the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Citizens, journalists, companies, and civil society organizations can ask Ministries and other government organizations for information by submitting a Woo request. They can then gain insight into how the government made decisions, for example, by viewing emails and conversation reports. It often takes a lot of time for Ministries to gather information and determine what they can make public and what cannot.

Legally, government organizations must respond within 28 days. They may extend that to 42 days if they need more time. In practice, Ministries take much longer to respond. The response comes too late in over four out of five Woo requests.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science responds the fastest to Woo requests, averaging 91 days. The Ministry of Finance is the slowest, averaging 239 days.

An often-given reason why Ministries respond too late is that their information is not properly organized and, therefore, difficult to find. The researchers do not think this is a good defense because most information can be obtained from a few systems. According to them, far too many people at the top of the civil service must approve the documents before they can be made public. Sometimes, even Ministers are watching.

The researchers will hand their report to parliament on Tuesday, who will debate the Woo on Thursday.