Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 06 November 2025
Our next agenda item is an evidence-taking session on the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill at stage 1, for which we are joined by Katy Clark MSP, who introduced the bill. Good morning, Katy.
I welcome to the meeting our first panel of witnesses: Dr Ben Worthy, reader in politics and public policy at Birkbeck College, who joins us online; Dr Erin Ferguson, who is a lecturer in law at the University of Aberdeen; and Professor Kevin Dunion. Good morning to you all.
We will move directly to questions. Members might want to put their questions either to the whole panel or to individuals. Should any of you wish to respond—there is no necessity for you to do so—please indicate that that is the case. Ben, if you raise your hand or use the hand function on your computer, I will bring you in at the appropriate time.
The wonderment of being convener is that I get to ask the first question. My first set of questions is really for all of you; it is partly to set the scene and to enable you to indicate the area in which you will be contributing.
We have conducted a consultation on the matter at hand, and respondents across the sector have indicated that Scotland’s freedom of information legislation is both widely used and well regarded. How would you, as individuals, assess the current state of the freedom of information regime here in Scotland? Ben, can I come to you first on that?