Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 27 November 2025
I will focus on the issues that you specifically mentioned.
People have argued, over many years, for proactive publication, and it has been recommended by Information Commissioners and other stakeholders who work regularly with freedom of information. The proposals around proactive publication are also based on what has happened in other jurisdictions. The view is that, although the 2002 act was framed with the best of intentions, the reality is that the publication schemes have not worked. The proposals have been developed over many years, and there is a great deal of consensus around them among those who are interested in and engaged with the issues, who see them as a more effective way to take things forward. In particular, all four Information Commissioners support the proposals in the bill. We have moved forward on the basis of that consensus among all the stakeholders, who tend to be people who are quite actively involved in FOI.
On the new offence, I heard last week’s evidence. The new offence is in addition to offences that are already on the statute book but that are very rarely used. It is hoped that the offence will have a deterrent effect—that is how it was envisaged. It has been proposed as a result of a specific set of circumstances, but it is hoped that it will never be used. Basically, it deals with a loophole that has been discovered. Again, the proposal has the full support of the Scottish Information Commissioner’s office. Indeed, we worked with it on this and other parts of the bill to ensure that they were drafted in a way that was workable for that office.