Katy Clark

Publishing its response to last year’s consultation yesterday, the Scottish government has ruled out the immediate introduction of an FOI bill, instead committing to secondary reforms and further consultations.

These include consulting on extending FOI designation to private and third sector run care homes but only after the passage of the delayed National Care Service Bill.

Next week, Ms Clark will lodge her the final proposal to seek the right to introduce a Freedom of Information Reform Bill, which will extend FOI coverage to all private and third sector providers of public services, closing loopholes which allow hundreds of bodies running public services to evade scrutiny.

Ms Clark said: “It’s now been three years since the Public Audit Committee argued in its post-legislative scrutiny of FOI legislation that non-public sector bodies delivering public services should be subject to FOI. The principle is clear: public information should follow the public pound.

“Now, the Scottish government has finally made clear its intentions: kick the can down the road yet again.

“There’s no commitment to private or third sector designation, just a vague commitment to a consultation on the care sector and only after the passage of a National Care Service that has itself been delayed. This is weak, timid and far from what the public are calling for. It’s utterly undemocratic that so many publicly-funded organisations evade scrutiny because of their ownership.

“I’ve repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to back my proposed reforms and work with me on this issue. Today’s announcement is disappointing yet unsurprising from a government which has essentially been under special measures over its own atrocious FOI performance for the past five years.

“My bill will finally close these loopholes, introduce a statutory duty for bodies to proactively publish information, and make FOI fit for the modern day.”