Freedom of information legislation will be tabled in Parliament before MPs break for the summer, the Premier pledged yesterday.

He told the House of Assembly that a revised public access to information bill (PATI) had been drawn up after more than 500 submissions from individuals and organisations were received on the draft copy released last October.

"You will recall that this issue of the PATI bill has been around for quite some time but it's no small issue," said Dr. Brown.

"It's not something that we can speedily usher through this House. It's something that will have major impact now and into the future."

He said the scale of feedback on the draft bill was "nothing short of democracy at work". He added: "We are extremely proud of the fact that we received this kind of response from the public and we appreciate this kind of feedback from the electorate.

"All submissions have been considered and a revised bill will be introduced into the Legislature during the third session."

Dr. Brown said a visit in November from freedom of information expert Carole Excell, who works at the World Resources Institute in Washington DC and helped Cayman introduce its FOI law, stimulated interest in the community.

The Premier's comments on PATI — first promised by Government in 2003 — came during a two-hour brief he gave on the budget for the Cabinet Office for 2010/11.

The legislation has been developed by the Cabinet Office's Central Policy Unit, which has been allocated $1.24 million for this year, compared to $640,000 last year.

This newspaper's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign has been calling for a freedom of information law and greater government transparency since January 2008.

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