ON Friday, a government commission will complete a consultation looking at potentially taking away the public’s right to know important information about how their tax money is being spent.

The Bolton News is joining newspapers up and down the country in telling the establishment to keep its hands of the Freedom of Information Act and preserve people's right to know.

Here, Liam Thorp looks at some of the cases which have affected Bolton.

SINCE it came into law in 2005, The Bolton News and our sister titles have regularly used the FOI Act to hold local public figures to account, expose wrongdoing and uncover incidents that would not have come to light in any other way.

Among a long-list of exclusive stories, we revealed how a grieving family attending the Royal Bolton Hospital to see a deceased loved one were shown the wrong body.

We have detailed the incredible injuries police officers suffer while out on the beat and shone a light on the parts of the Bolton borough which cause the most issues for residents in terms of noise.

In terms of challenging the law makers, we currently have a request for information in with Bolton Council as we try to discover if former chief executive Paul Najsarek was given any kind of taxpayer-funded pay-off after he left the job after just five months.

Perhaps the most important result of an FOI request at our newspaper in recent years led to a Bolton Councillor being investigated by the police after failing to pay his council tax on time — Dale Haslam, the reporter behind that sensational story gives his full account on the next page.

Nationally, many will think of the 2009 MPs expenses scandal as one of the key results of the Freedom of Information Act.

The incredible revelations led to five Labour MPs being jailed as well as two Tory peers, with many others being forced to pay money back — all because of FOI requests.

Among those jailed was former Bury North MP David Chaytor, who was handed an 18 month term for making false parliamentary expenses claims.

Despite these results, the leader of the House of Commons, Chris Grayling, has labelled the use of the FOI Act by journalists as “unacceptable” and many now fear the government could bring in charges for revealing information as well as restricting exactly what can be brought into the public domain.

The commission looking into potential changes to the Act closes at midnight on Friday and Bolton MPs David Crausby and Yasmin Qureshi have backed The Bolton News in calling for nothing to be changed about this essential piece of law.

Mr Crausby, who represents Bolton North East said: “When you look at the expenses scandal, the Act has been quite painful for MPs, but bringing it in was definitely the right thing to do.

“Politicians have suffered from that scandal, which damaged reputations — but it was all true and you can’t hide behind the truth.

“The only issue should arise on matters of national security and the Act already protects us from that point of view.”

He added: “Aside from that, the public have a right to know and it makes for better politics — I will certainly back this campaign for no changes to be made.”

Ms Qureshi said not only should the Act not be changed — but it should be extended to include the private sector.

She said: “I don’t see why private companies shouldn’t also be held to account.

“I am very happy to back this campaign and I strongly oppose any changes to the Freedom of Information Act — which is a great piece of legislation.”

Ian Savage, Editor-in-chief of The Bolton News said: “The Freedom of Information Act is an important tool for any journalist and is sometimes the only way to hold public bodies to account if there is a particularly sensitive story to be found. The public sector in all its forms is funded by our readers’ hard-earned money and as a result the public has an absolute right to know how public bodies are spending our cash.

“I am hugely concerned that and it is important that our readers know about this potential diluting of the Act and we stand with other newspapers in the UK against any measures to dilute the public’s right to know.”