The Campaign for Freedom of Information has welcomed some of Gordon Brown’s proposed changes to parliamentary transparency, including the cutting of the 30-year period before old official papers are made public to 20 years.

This was a substantial step, the Campaign said, even if it did not go as far as the 15 year period recommended by the Dacre Review earlier this year.

Brown announced the change yesterday in an attempt to improve trust in politics in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal.