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The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland |
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Press release: 11 January 2002
The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland welcomed today's report by the Scottish Parliament's Justice 1 Committee, calling for improvements to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill. However, the Campaign warned that the Bill's ministerial veto could undermine the right of access. The veto would allow the First Minister to suppress information in certain key areas, such as the background to policy decisions, even if Scotland's Information Commissioner ordered disclosure. Committee members were divided on whether the veto should be retained. The Campaign warned that: "ministers might promise to be sparing in their use of the veto, but overseas experience suggested it could be frequently used. Examples of information vetoed under New Zealand's FOI law included the successful tender price for wall plugs, unemployment estimates and an evaluation of computer use in schools. Under Australia's Act, information about the costs of a proposed national identity card and a review of the effectiveness of certain health programmes was vetoed." The New Zealand veto was used to block 14 out of 92 formal disclosure decisions in the Act's first four years. Australia's veto was used 55 times in the same period. In Westminster, ministers recently overruled the Parliamentary Ombudsman under the open government code, when he told them to disclose anonymised statistical information about the number of occasions on which ministers had declared a potential conflict of interest to their colleagues, as required by the ministerial code. However, the Campaign said that many of the Committee's recommendations would, if accepted, bring about significant improvements to the Bill. It particularly welcomed proposals to include information about PFI schemes within the bill; the Committee's views about the dangers of high charges for information; its call for the Act to be implemented within 2 years, not 5; and its call for the Executive to reconsider a provision which threatens the Information Commissioner with prosecution for the disclosure of certain information. The Justice 1 Committee Report will be debated by the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 17 January. It is available from the Scottish Parliament web site The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland's detailed comments on the bill can be found at www.cfoi.org.uk/scotland.html
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Further information is available from the CFOIinS on 0141 554 5161
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