The Government has met more than 85% of the 580 requests for information received under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2005, the Home Affairs Bureau says.

Of the total, 480 requests were met in full and 17 requests were partly met. Only 12 requests, or 2.07%, were refused.

The other 71 requests included referrals to other organisations, withdrawals by applicants and requests being processed.

Since the code was introduced in March, 1995, there have been 18,627 requests. Of these, 16,709 requests, or 89.7%, were met, 16,322 of them in full and 387 in part.

Only 373 requests, or 2% were refused. The 1,545 other requests were withdrawn are still being processed or were referred to other organisations.

Anyone who is not satisfied with a department's response under the Code may ask a mroe senior officer to review the matter. After that, if the individual is still unsatisfied, he or she may complain to the Ombudsman.

In the third quarter of 2005, the Ombudsman received three such complaints. One was withdrawn, one has been dealt with satisfactorily and another is still being reviewed.