Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2017
I am delighted to bring to the chamber this motion on freedom of information and at the outset I move the motion in my name.
I started campaigning to become an MSP in 2010, and one of my reasons for doing so was that, like many others in the chamber and across Scotland, I felt that politicians seemed remote, unapproachable and secretive. Countering those traits remains one of my key drivers, and that is what the debate is all about.
On Tuesday 13 June, there was a members’ business debate on freedom of information. In the lead-up to that debate, I did some research on the topic that I was to speak on, and I was shocked. When I spoke in the debate, I found that I was sharing a platform with Neil Findlay and Andy Wightman. Although I share little political ground with them, it became clear as the debate progressed that we have a lot in common when it comes to the transparency of government.
The critical freedom of information laws and procedures in Scotland are based on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, both of which were introduced to improve Government transparency and set the aim of having strong standards. However, we have heard from journalists across the political spectrum that they have serious concerns about the Scottish Government’s interpretation and implementation of the legislation.
I do not always believe what journalists write, but in this case there is no smoke without fire. We have heard about their concerns regarding freedom of information requests, and some of the issues that they raise include delays
“beyond the 20 working day deadline”,
emails requesting updates
“being routinely ignored ... officials delaying responses for so long that the initial requests only get answered under internal review”
and
“Scottish government officials taking control of requests to other government agencies without the consent of the applicant”.
I could go on.