Information Commissioner publishes 2025 report
The Information Commissioner’s Office reported 132 new public access to information requests last year.
David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, laid the ICO 2025 Report before the House of Assembly today.
It came days after The Royal Gazette reported a six-month delay in its release.
The report states that the 132 requests in 2025 mark a 25 per cent decrease from the 177 submitted in the previous year and that the Bermuda Police Service handled 39, or almost 30 per cent of requests — the most of any public authority in 2025.
This was followed by the Bermuda Hospitals Board, the Ministry of Finance headquarters, the Judicial Department, the Department of Education and the Ministry of Public Works headquarters, which all reported receiving five new requests to the ICO last year.
Jason Outerbridge, the Information Commissioner, said the reduction in Pati requests “does not exactly reflect a declining public interest in accessing information that matters”, but “better signifies a positive shift where public authorities are publishing more of what the public want to know proactively online, reducing the need for formal requests and the ensuing access disputes”.
The report stated that 174 of 180, or 97 per cent, of bodies monitored by the ICO submitted an annual report to the office, as required by law, in 2025, and that the authorities that did not submit reports — the Department of Corrections, the Morgan’s Point Development Company, the Financial Assistance Review Board, The Berkeley Institute Board of Governors, Pembroke Parish Council and Warwick Parish Council — will be subject to “direct, enhanced enforcement action by the ICO in 2026”.
It explained: “Enhanced enforcement may escalate to a compliance investigation or order by the Information Commissioner to take appropriate action”.
The ICO managed 60 review applications in 2025, closed 26 of these applications and issued 16 formal decisions in 2025.
The report also noted that 78, or 45 per cent, of authorities monitored by the ICO claimed to never have received a Pati request between 2015, when the Public Access to Information Act was established, and last year.
It said: “This figure could indicate that the activities and functions of some public authorities are unknown or not of general interest to the public.”
The most common reasons that records were refused last year include that the requested information did not exist or could not be found, was already in the public domain, or concerned personal information.
Mr Outerbridge said: “While chronic budget constraints and core staffing shortfalls at the ICO present ongoing vulnerabilities for national oversight, the ICO’s cumulative output in 2025 proves that our team has delivered maximum value for money, preserving the fundamental right to know for all Bermudians and residents.
“For this, the ICO’s officers deserve fullest public praise for delivering during an exceptionally challenging 2025.”
• To see the 2025 ICO Report in full, visitico.bm or see Related Media
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