Journalists call for review of Scottish government FOI practices

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s selection panel for the appointment of the Scottish Information Commissioner, the journalists say they have “become increasingly concerned about the way in which the legislation is being interpreted and implemented”.

The journalists - including representatives of the BBC and STV NUJ chapels - say their requests have been delayed, ignored, blocked, screened or commandeered by government officials without the consent of the applicant.

They write: “Some of these experiences raise questions of whether information requests by journalists are being treated and managed differently, even though the legislation requires all requests to be handled equally and without favour or prejudice. We suspect there have been cuts in the resources and time being made available by the civil service for handling freedom of information requests.

“We are increasingly told the information we are seeking is not held where ministerial meetings with other bodies or individuals to discuss government policy are said to be informal, minutes are not taken, and records are not kept. Correspondence and reports that should be available seem not to exist. This raises the question of whether Scottish ministers and civil servants now have a practice of not recording information that would previously have been recorded.”

They call on their concerns to be considered in the appointment of a new Scottish Information Commissioner, and for “a review of the Scottish government’s treatment of and policies for dealing with” FOI requests.

They add: “We believe that review should also look closely at the question of whether the legislation should include a duty to record on government officials, advisers and ministers, particularly when meeting with outside bodies, individuals or lobbyists to discuss government policy.”

The open letter was published online by The Ferret and CommonSpace.