Freedom of Information legislation appears to be step closer to completion in Bermuda — but Government officials will not comment on it.

The Cayman Islands Government website announced yesterday two of Bermuda's Cabinet Office policy analysts Kimberley McKeown and Marisa Sharp spent three days in Cayman reviewing the country's experiences with Freedom of Information (FOI) during an official visit last week.

But when asked if information about the visit would be forthcoming from the Government yesterday the Premier's press secretary Glenn Jones said: "No, but I can confirm that this happened."

Attorney General Kim Wilson, who department is drafting the legislation, did not respond to a request for comments.

The Cayman Government's website stated the two Bermuda representatives examined Cayman's overall philosophy and implementation strategies, as well as its issues, challenges and corresponding legislation.

While there they met with the FOI steering committee, as well as the Cabinet Secretary (under whom the FOI Office falls) and the Cabinet Office's Director of Special Projects; the Portfolio of the Civil Service; the Information Commissioner; Government Information Services; the Cayman Islands National Archives; and the FOI Unit.

The Bermudians also met with Cayman government's information managers network, and reviewed the FOI information-sharing software programme custom-designed by the Computer Services Department.

Our A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign, launched in January 2008, is pushing for the Island to get a FOI law as soon as possible and for publicly funded bodies to become more transparent.

The PLP first promised FOI, known locally as Public Access to Information legislation, in 2003 and previously tabled a discussion paper on the topic in 2005.

All of Bermuda's parliamentary committees meet behind closed doors, including the important Public Accounts Committee, though a select committee set up to chart education reform last year was allowed to meet in public.