Friday 12 Jun 2015 @ 16:30
Scottish Government
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Plans to widen scope of FOI legislation

Views sought regarding extension to security, care and educational organisations.

A number of private companies and charities involved with providing public services could soon be covered by freedom of information (FOI) legislation.

The Scottish Government is launching a consultation on proposals to extend FOI legislation to bodies involved with a range of security, care and educational functions.

Those being considered for inclusion at this stage include contractors operating private prisons, providers of secure accommodation for children, grant-aided schools and independent special schools.

The Scottish Government is committed to promoting openness and transparency, particularly amongst organisations delivering key public services.

Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe FitzPatrick, said:

“Scotland already has the most robust Freedom of Information regime in the UK and it is our aim to ensure that this continues, and that our principles of openness, transparency and accountability set an example for other nations to aspire to.

“Once again, this consultation demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to continually improving Scotland’s transparency and ensuring that freedom of information legislation remains robust and up-to-date. This includes reviewing coverage of the legislation in the context of Scotland’s ever-changing public service landscape.

“The First Minister has committed to leading the most open and accessible government that Scotland has ever had. In tandem with this commitment is our desire to make certain that organisations delivering key public service roles are themselves open, accountable and subject to scrutiny. We are therefore proposing to widen the scope of bodies covered by that legislation, to cover areas of education, care and security.

“We welcome feedback from the bodies themselves, stakeholders and the public. We are also interested to hear about what other bodies, either individually or collectively, should be considered in any future consultations.”

This latest consultation on the scope of freedom of information (FOI) legislation follows Scotland’s first order which extended FOI to a range of local authority arm’s length trusts delivering leisure, culture and sporting services from April 1 last year.

The consultation closes on September 4, 2015.

Notes To Editors

The consultation paper is available on the Scottish Government website.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides a right of access to information held by Scottish public authorities (unless certain exemptions apply, for example for national security or personal data).

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 can be extended to bodies that carry out functions of a public nature or which provide a service which is a function of a public body through a contract.

Scotland’s first order extending coverage of freedom of information legislation came into effect on April 1 2014. The order brought within scope of the Act a significant number of local authority trusts undertaking a range of leisure, cultural and sporting functions on behalf of local authorities. While research suggests most council arm’s length bodies are subject to FoI, we will continue to assess whether further orders are needed to cover other such bodies providing public services.

http://www.gov.scot/About/Information/FOI/Coverage

The Government’s Six Principles of Freedom of Information commit the Government to adjusting the legislation where it is necessary and sensible to do so.

http://www.gov.scot/About/Information/FOI/6principles

Other recent changes have included a reduction in the lifespans of certain FOI exemptions from 30 years to 15 years and the publication of a revised and strengthened Code of Practice setting out best practice for all Scottish public authorities to follow.

Contact Information

SG Communications

SGCommunications@scot.gov.uk

Aileen Macarthur

aileen.macarthur@scot.gov.uk

Channel website: http://www.gov.scot/

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