The Government received a total of 2 750 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2021, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (May 6).
 
     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of September 2021 amounted to 97 125. Of these, 5 559 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 4 882 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny the existence of information. As at September 30, 2021, 432 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 86 252 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 83 526 requests (96.8 per cent) were met, either in full (81 211 requests) or in part (2 315 requests), and 2 726 requests (3.2 per cent) were refused.

     Any member of the public who is dissatisfied with the response of a bureau/department under the Code may request that the matter be reviewed. He or she may also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.

     In the third quarter of 2021, the Ombudsman received 19 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 28 complaints, among which one was substantiated, four were partially substantiated, four were unsubstantiated, 17 were concluded by inquiries (including three cases with inadequacies found), and two were assessed and closed. As at September 30, 2021, the Ombudsman's investigations on 15 complaints were ongoing.

     "The Code has provided an effective framework for the public to seek access to information held by the Government," the spokesman said.

Ends/Friday, May 6, 2022
Issued at HKT 15:00

NNNN