provisions of the 2000 Act, but whilst it successfully completed its passage in the Commons, it failed to progress through the House of Lords after failing to find a sponsor. In 2020, Scottish Government moves to include restrictions on Freedom of Information laws as part of Covid-19 emergency legislation proved controversial and were eventually rolled back after strong cross party opposition. In 2020, the openDemocracy website published a report on the FOI Clearing House. The report described the Clearing House as "Orwellian" and found that it requires government departments to send it requests that are potentially sensitive or too expensive to answer. The report also found that the Clearing House sometimes requires departments to provide it with drafts of responses to FOI requests for vetting. According to the report, government ministers were hindering FOI requests in "disturbing" ways and the number of FOI requests granted by departments had decreased. The Cabinet Office said the Clearing House was designed to "ensur[e] there is a standard approach across government in the way we consider and respond to requests". See also Freedom of information legislation Campaign for Freedom of Information Information Commissioner's Office Scottish Information Commissioner References External links Freedom of Information and Privacy Bill. London: Parliamentary Stationery Office, 1977 Information Commissioner's Office Scottish Information Commissioner's website What Do They Know? Make and explore Freedom of Information requests Law of the United Kingdom