Scotland risks being a more secretive state than England

Published on Wednesday 3 August 2011 17:24

MINISTERS have come under pressure to ensure Scotland does not "lag behind" the rest of Britain over freedom of information laws, after the UK government unveiled plans to extend legislation.

Scottish ministers faced calls to follow suit after the UK's Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude launched a web consultation on proposals to increase the amount of data proactively published online in England, including specific sentences handed to criminals, hospital success rates in treating certain illnesses and results about how well schools are doing in individual subjects.

Kevin Dunion, Scotland's information commissioner, said he was "very interested" in the country adopting similar proposals to those outlined by the UK government, which would mean a presumption in favour of information being posted on the web rather than people having to make requests.

Although the Scottish Government publishes detailed figures about the sentencing handed out by courts, the UK's proposals to proactively publish web details about GP and hospital performance and prescribing go further than the information currently available in Scotland.

SNP ministers abandoned plans to extend FOI laws to contractors who build and maintain hospitals and schools, as well as to the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, in the last session of parliament.

Health boards, government departments, regional police forces and councils are all subject to FOI, but the government said "any extension of coverage will have financial and administrative implications for the bodies proposed to be covered".

Mr Dunion called on Scottish ministers to "keep up the pace" on how information held by the government is made available to the public.

He said: "I am very interested in the UK government's initiatives, which are based on the presumption that information which the government holds should usefully be made available to everyone. "The challenge in Scotland is for the government's recently announced digital strategy to keep up the pace."

Derek Manson-Smith, co-convener of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland, added: "Unless the Scottish Government reinstates its dropped proposals to extend the scope of the act to public service contractors and other bodies, it risks falling behind Westminster at a time when the UK government is increasing access to public information."

Senior SNP MSP John Wilson, the deputy convenor of Holyrood's economy committee, admitted: "The Scottish Government can't be seen to lag behind in relation to the open access of information."

The SNP government has promised to hold a fresh consultation on the scope of FOI.

A spokesman said: "The work of government in Scotland is now more open and transparent than ever before, as a result of actions taken by this administration."