The UK Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) came into effect in 2005, and FOI requests were made to the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) for the raw data from weather stations used in developing instrumental temperature record datasets, for copies of agreements under which the raw data was obtained from meteorology institutions, and also for email correspondence relating to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.
Newspapers misrepresented this as a decision in relation to raw data, and the issue was discussed by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry, which found there had been a lack of openness.
From 1978 onwards, the Climatic Research Unit developed its gridded CRUTEM data set of land air temperature anomalies back to 1850, based on instrumental temperature records held by National Meteorological Organisations around the world, often under formal or informal confidentiality agreements that restricted use of this raw data to academic purposes.
The scientists concerned saw such requests as disrupting the time available for their work, and those making them as nitpicking to suit an agenda rather than trying to advance scientific knowledge.
Late in 2008, the university's FOI managers took advice from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on exceptions allowing refusal of requests.
Don Keiller of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge then made a similar FOIA request, UEA refused this on 11 September 2009.
[2][3] On 12 August 2009, Nature News published a statement by Phil Jones that he was working to release the raw data in a systematic way, and was writing to all the National Meteorological Organisations requesting their agreement to waive confidentiality.
[5] The university worked closely with the Met Office, which sent requests to National Meteorological Organisations for agreement to waive confidentiality on raw instrumental data,[6] as CRU had announced on 12 August 2009.
In its decision released on 23 June 2011, the ICO stated that the data was not easily available and there was insufficient evidence that disclosure would have an adverse effect on international relations.
[3] On 27 July 2011 CRU announced release of the raw instrumental data not already in the public domain, with the exception of Poland which was outside the area covered by the FOIA request.
"[2][6] In May 2008 David Holland, an electrical engineer from Northampton, made a FOI request for all emails to and from Keith Briffa about the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4); formal review exchanges had already been published.
Holland appealed to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) about the UEA's refusals of FOI requests he had made for emails to and from Briffa about the IPCC AR4 report.
It called for a full investigation by the Muir Russell inquiry or by the Information Commissioner to resolve this issue, and accepted that the six month statute of limitations restriction was insufficient and should be reviewed.