Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 06 November 2025
The assumption was that FOI would help to usher in a cultural change—a move towards a culture of openness. We have a culture of compliance, which is positive and does not happen everywhere in the world. I do a lot of consultancy work, so I know that many places around the world have much better laws than we have in Scotland, but the compliance is often not nearly as good and does not match the quality of the law itself.
Our difficulty is that our approach to FOI and the commissioner’s decisions are highly legalistic. I understand that, because appeals can go to the Court of Session, but, in many countries, the commissioners’ decisions are much briefer and very much a case of them saying, “I’ve looked at this and, yes, you should release it,” or, “No, you shouldn’t.” The decision is not challenged. In Scotland, we have to justify the disclosure of every single page of information.
Our law works, but it could work better, and the bill is trying to encourage a culture of compliance. Let us look at Scandinavia. Sweden does not have the best FOI law in the world, but it has the best culture in the world, along with Finland. Civil servants and officials do not balk at being asked at the front desk, “Can I get this information?” They will go away and get the information there and then; they do not necessarily say, “We will get it to you in 20 days, but please put your request in writing.” We are not anywhere near that point. I would like to see us move towards a more nimble approach.
The proposed changes to publication schemes are long overdue. The requirement for schemes delayed the FOI act coming into effect by 18 months, because it involved going round telling everybody, including pharmacists and practice managers in doctors’ surgeries, “You’re liable under the act, and you’re required to have a publication scheme,” which did not go down at all well. The schemes were not maintained thereafter, which has been a great difficulty.
If we can begin to take a more relaxed view of information, as the bill proposes, information will naturally enter the public domain. We should prepare for that rather than hold back and wait to see what exemptions might apply.