Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011
17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish Executive Question Time
Forests (Grant Recipients)
General Questions
With respect, that is a load of rubbish. I keep getting lectures that our freedom of information regime in Scotland is better than it is in the rest of the UK. I have the replies for England, in which everyone is named. For Wales, everyone who got money is named. For Scotland, the documents say “Name withheld”, “Name withheld”, “Name withheld”.
It has been suggested to me by someone with a little more daring than I have that maybe the names have been withheld because there are some Scottish National Party donors among them, or some people who are endorsing Alex Salmond.
Members: Oh!
It has been suggested to me by someone with a little more daring than I have that maybe the names have been withheld because there are some Scottish National Party donors among them, or some people who are endorsing Alex Salmond.
Members: Oh!
In the same item of business
George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab)
Lab
1. To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason, in response to freedom of information requests, it has chosen not to reveal the names of recipients of gran...
The Minister for the Environment and Climate Change (Roseanna Cunningham)
SNP
The European Court of Justice has made a judgment that the European Commission’s regulation on the matter imposed excessive requirements on the publication o...
George Foulkes
Lab
With respect, that is a load of rubbish. I keep getting lectures that our freedom of information regime in Scotland is better than it is in the rest of the U...
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Michael Russell)
SNP
That is a disgrace.
The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson)
NPA
Order. A question, please, Lord Foulkes.
George Foulkes
Lab
I would hesitate to suggest such a thing. Let us have the real reason, then. Why are the names being withheld?
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
I thought that I gave a clear, calm explanation of the current position in respect of the legal advice that the Government received. I do not know whether La...