Sturgeon agrees to include arm’s-length council bodies in FoI

17 Jan 13
Local authority arm’s-length bodies are to be brought within the scope of Scotland’s Freedom of Information legislation, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament yesterday
By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 17 January 2013

Local authority arm’s-length bodies are to be brought within the scope of Scotland’s Freedom of Information legislation, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

Her announcement came during the debate on the third and final stage of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill, which updates the original 2002 Act. Opposition amendments to extend the legislation to cover all providers of public services, including private firms, charities and housing associations, were defeated.

Ministers will add ALEOs to the list of designated bodies using powers under Section 5 of the original legislation for the first time.

Sturgeon also agreed to widen consultation for further review of the designation list and accelerate the timetable. The first round of reports will be published before the end of the current Parliament. ‘I recognise the appetite for further extension,’ she said.

Critics of current FoI exemptions, including information commissioner Rosemary Agnew, have argued that the growing pressure on public bodies to outsource services in pursuit of economies is steadily reducing the right of Scots to access public policy information.  Some have voiced fears that Scotland, having set the pace for FoI with its original 2002 legislation, is now falling behind provision in the rest of the UK.

Sturgeon said the reforms would ensure that FoI coverage kept pace with both the ever-changing nature of public administration and the ‘understandably’ increasing public demand for information.  It was, she said, a further milestone but not the end of the journey.

But Labour’s Paul Martin called the Bill a missed opportunity for a new approach, and said there had been broad civic support for the opposition amendments rejected by Sturgeon.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie called Sturgeon’s ALEOs announcement a ‘timid response’ to demands for extended FoI scope.


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