Greater information powers needed for Scotland, says Commissioner

SCOTLAND’S outgoing Information Commissioner has warned mishandled freedom of information requests are increasing and called for his successor to be given more powers.

Kevin Dunion said a growing number of requests for information are being appealed to the commissioner after being rejected by councils.

He said he is increasingly coming down on the side of the public, after finding local authorities failed to deal with requests properly.

Mr Dunion has called for greater powers for his successor.

As revealed in the Scotland on Sunday, Mr Dunion fears the public’s right to access information is diminishing because of public services being out-sourced to trusts or private companies, and ministers refusal to widen the scope of the act.

Now he is also warning action is needed to make sure authorities who are bound by freedom of information laws respond properly, after seeing a 25 per cent increase in appeals between 2010/11 and 2011/12.

Mr Dunion said: “We are seeing increasing numbers of cases which we should not be seeing.

“Authorities are not responding, or they’re not responding on time, or they are failing to find all the information. This may be because authorities have not maintained training levels, or they have not anticipated the increase in requests.”

Many of those requests are from people concerned about the economic downturn.

“There seems to be a shift in the nature of questions asked to local authorities, which reflects the economic situation, such as employment issues, circumstances of redundancies, and pay freezes,” Mr Dunion said. At present an offence of destroying or altering a document must be referred to police within six months of it being committed. Mr Dunion wants this extended so action can be taken in more cases.

He also wants the Information Commissioner to be able to order officials to give evidence under oath.

“In Canada, the commissioner can conduct interviews with an affidavit. My investigative powers could be made more nimble, if we adopted some of those powers,” he said.

Mr Dunion also wants private companies to be subject to FoI laws where they are spending public money, but businesses believe this would be counterproductive in the current climate.

David Lonsdale, assistant director of CBI Scotland, said: “Extending FOI obligations to private-sector suppliers of public services would have been unnecessary, costly, and at odds with promises to simplify regulation and public procurement.”

Mr Dunion is to appear before the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee today.

A Scottish Government spokesman added: “Freedom of information is an essential part of open democratic government and responsive public services, which is why we are committed to adjusting the regime where it is necessary to do so.”