The freedom to scrutinise

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Scottish public authorities have been warned they could face a barrage of freedom of information (FOI) requests as the public seek to scrutinise decisions that affect services during the recession.

The Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion (pictured), says the organisations must "think FOI" in order to minimise the impact of requests.

He gave the warning as his 2009 annual report revealed that the number of FOI appeals made to the commissioner increased by 15 per cent over the last year – and two-thirds of the decisions he issued found that a public authority had breached FOI law in some way.

His report marks the 5th anniversary of Scotland's FOI laws.

Dunion said: "The effect of the recession on public spending may well mean even more requests for information being made by people concerned about public authority decisions which affect services, funding or jobs.

"It is therefore essential that public authorities take steps to make sure they can more readily comply with FOI, giving people the information they want, while minimising the impact on public authority resources. Key to this is assuming information will be released. When staff create information, they should be aware that their reports, emails and notes may one day be released under FOI.

The report revealed that 73 per cent of applications (421 in total) received by the commissioner came from the public compared to 69 per cent between 2005 and 2008. Enquiries to the commissioner's office from people seeking advice on using FOI also rose significantly, with a 16 per cent increase on 2008.

Dunion added: "All too often, a public authority's reluctance to disclose is less about the actual content of the information, and more about the manner in which staff have expressed themselves. By encouraging staff at all levels to 'think FOI', public authorities can encourage a more professional approach to internal, as well as external, communications – making it far easier to contemplate release."

His annual report comes in the wake of a study by researchers at the University of Strathclyde which found that nearly half of those working in the voluntary sector were wary of making FOI requests fearing it would harm relations with public authorities, or may even lead to a loss in funding.