Committee
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 20 November 2025
20 Nov 2025 · S6 · Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Item of business
Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
David Hamilton (Scottish Information Commissioner)
Watch on SPTV
Good morning, everyone. I thank the committee for the opportunity to give evidence.
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 has been in force for 20 years, and it has delivered some tremendous results for people in Scotland. Back then, comparative technologies, such as smartphones with cameras, had only just become a thing. However, we are in a different world now. The digital revolution has been extraordinary and the pace of change has been enormous.
We need to tighten up the nuts and bolts by tightening up the legislation a little bit. Some things have opened up, and we have different governance structures that did not exist before, such as arm’s-length organisations.
The legislation has changed slightly through designation, but slowly. We are now in a position where we need to review the whole system and ask how we can make it better so that we retain our place as one of the leading freedom of information regimes in western Europe, and that we get back up that ladder in the context of the world.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Martin Whitfield)
Lab
Good morning. I welcome everyone to the 22nd meeting in 2025 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee. I have received apologies from ...
David Hamilton (Scottish Information Commissioner)
Good morning, everyone. I thank the committee for the opportunity to give evidence. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 has been in force for 20 ...
The Convener
Lab
That is helpful. You have picked up on the fact that the delivery of services, as well as the technology, has changed over the past 20 years. Interestingly,...
David Hamilton
I consider this as an infrastructure bill. It provides a mechanism that allows things to happen more easily. Designation is a great example of that. The pace...
The Convener
Lab
That is helpful. Thank you. If you wish to add anything, Paul, just jump in.
Paul Mutch (Scottish Information Commissioner)
The only point that I will add is that our experience shows that a measured and proportionate approach to designation has been most effective. That has ensur...
The Convener
Lab
One thing to consider is the balance between primary legislation, secondary legislation and non-legislative processes. David, do you have any comments about ...
David Hamilton
Yes. I think that the bill does that, which is key. Along with designation, codification of publication is another key piece of infrastructure that we can pu...
The Convener
Lab
Annie Wells joins us online. Interruption.
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
My apologies—I have had a few problems with my Surface Pro this morning. Good morning, and thank you for coming along, David. You have stated that designat...
David Hamilton
The principle of the Parliament having a role in that is a good one—it is an additional role. However, there is nothing to stop the Scottish Government and S...
Annie Wells
Con
Yes. I could not agree with you more, David. In your written submission, you noted that the process to bring registered social landlords within scope took ...
David Hamilton
I will ask Paul Mutch to answer that. Paul has been in the Scottish Information Commissioner’s office from the very beginning. He is almost as old as designa...
Paul Mutch
Yes, we have been involved. The process started back in 2019, with an initial consultation about the further use of the section 5 powers. That has now moved ...
Annie Wells
Con
I have a final question. This is for David, although Paul might want to comment. Do you have any views on the proposal to provide Parliament with a power to ...
David Hamilton
It is an interesting and imaginative proposal. I envisage that happening through the same degree of consultation, although not as much consultation as is cur...
The Convener
Lab
I want to explore how you envisage the role of Parliament. The current consultation period covers two sessions and two iterations of Parliament. There is a v...
David Hamilton
Part of the problem is that if the Government does not want to do something, it does not happen—it does not have to vote for it. If the Government wants to d...
Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. I have some questions about publicly owned companies, time for compliance and independent schools. Section 3 of the bill proposes a small techn...
David Hamilton
That is a real technical question for the FOI geeks, and I cannot claim to be one. I can speak about the general principle behind the proposal. Essentially, ...
Ruth Maguire
SNP
Do you have any examples of specific information requests or appeals that would illustrate the impact of that anomaly?
Paul Mutch
I am not aware of specific examples of such companies. The minister might be best placed to answer regarding the types of companies that are owned by the Gov...
Ruth Maguire
SNP
I understand that. Have any specific information requests or appeals been made to your office that would illustrate the impact of that anomaly on access to i...
Paul Mutch
I am not aware of any particular appeals, but we can look into that. However, a possible situation that falls within those circumstances is that, because tho...
Ruth Maguire
SNP
That is helpful. There were positive responses to the proposal to “pause” time for compliance in both the consultation by the Public Audit and Post-legisla...
David Hamilton
I do not think that guidance is enough, because this is a world of lawyers, and lawyers look at every single word and say, “We don’t need to do that.” Howeve...
Ruth Maguire
SNP
Your evidence provided the committee with the statistic that 88 per cent of responses were provided on time last year. Does that statistic include cases in w...
David Hamilton
I do not think that it does. That information is supplied by the public authorities, and I do not think that the sheet goes into such granular detail.
Paul Mutch
I think that cases in which clarification has been required are included in that data. However, in most cases, whether a body complies will have been worked ...
Ruth Maguire
SNP
Any additional evidence or data that your office holds on whether such clarification requests are being used to delay disclosure would help the committee. I...