What civil servants don't want you to know (rather a lot, actually)

Published on Friday 29 January 2010 20:45

THE Scottish Government has been accused of routinely rejecting valid requests under freedom of information laws.

Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion said civil servants took a "restrictive view" of applications "as a matter of course". In a BBC interview yesterday he criticised the culture and described it as "wrong" and "quite inexplicable".

Mr Dunion has now issued new guidance to Scotland's top civil servant Sir John Elvidge, the permanent secretary at the Scottish Government, on how freedom of information laws should be interpreted.

The issue arose after a Court of Session ruling last year, which stated people had the right to information but not the documents which contained that information.

Despite that, Mr Dunion said people should still be able to make a request for information by making reference to documents, saying: "If it is reasonably clear to the public authority what information you're looking for, they should respond to it in a perfectly normal way.

"The Scottish Government has taken a rather restrictive view of it and is now issuing, almost as a matter of course, refusal notices saying requests are invalid if they make reference to documents.

"I'm very surprised and disappointed by the line that they have taken, because, up until now, they have had an excellent record of supporting FoI.

"But that doesn't obscure the fact that in this case we now have ample evidence that as a matter of course civil servants are turning away perfectly valid information requests which are quite inexplicable."

Mr Dunion said the government's stance was "hamfisted" and "misguided", adding: "I think it can be remedied by simply coming into line with the rest of the public authorities in Scotland and with my guidance, which spells out what should be done.

"It's my job to interpret what the law is and I've issued now today to the permanent secretary of the civil service in Scotland guidance asking him to change the instructions he has given to his staff so that they accord with my interpretation of the Court of Session decision."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the administration was "committed to freedom of information, and its underpinning principles of openness and transparent government".

She said: "The publication of the Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on the recent Court of Session decision is welcome. The court ruling says, for example, that the FoI Act provides a right to obtain information, rather than a right to obtain copies of specific documents, and of course we are now considering the implications of the court ruling in the context of the advice from the commissioner."

The government handled 1,200 FoI requests each year, she said, and that information was made available in the "vast majority" of these.

The government is "looking into the important issue of whether FoI should be extended to cover private bodies delivering public services, such as private prisons, local authority trusts and contractors building and maintaining schools and hospitals".

2M IN BONUSES

A FREEDOM of information request has revealed that the Scottish Government paid more than 2 million in bonuses to staff in 2008-9.

The revelation yesterday will add to pressure on ministers to cap the number of bonuses paid out to civil servants and quango staff.

It comes after the Liberal Democrats demanded that top-paid civil servants take a pay cut to help to tackle the recession.