The Government Information Service (GIS) has asked every Government Department whether all Freedom of Information requests should be published on their websites.
But the GIS, which manages the Government's relations with the media, last night denied that a general policy of publishing all requests was being considered.
The Government spokeswoman said: "We are simply doing a survey of all Government Departments to establish their views on whether Freedom of Information requests or responses would be published on their websites."
When asked whether GIS was considering a policy of general disclosure, she said: "It is not under consideration. There is nothing under consideration." However, she said that she could not rule out a decision on the matter in the future.
Any such policy would hamper the efforts of journalists to generate exclusive stories from Freedom of Information material. It would also remove the presumption of privacy when journalists make enquiries of public bodies.
When asked about suggestions that GIS was broadly in favour of such a measure, she said: "I don't think that's fair to say. What I'm trying to do at the moment is to get a view of what the other Departments' position on this matter is."
The survey comes weeks after a series of amendments to the Freedom of Information Act that severely constrained the operation of the legislation.