By Lucy Ashton
Scottish Liberal Democrats today said the SNP Government “is wedded to secrecy” after ministers announced that they will not introduce any primary legislation to update information rights before the end of the current Parliament in 2026 and kicked other reforms into the long grass.
The Dumbarton Democrat has been banned from questioning council officers on West Dunbartonshire Council and referred to the Freedom of Information Commission, which its own director says is not fit for purpose, without as much as a meeting to discuss the matter.
In its response to a consultation on the future of Freedom of Information legislation, the Scottish Government:
- Refuses fresh legislation to cover the use of WhatsApp, preferring guidance, despite the deletion of Covid WhatsApps and a Scottish Liberal Democrat investigation finding WhatsApps have only been released under FOI on two occasions.
- Refuses to give the Parliament more powers to determine who is subject to FOI, as requested by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
- Refuses to match Irish FOI legislation which clamps down on confidentiality clauses between public bodies and their contractors.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said: “This SNP Government is wedded to secrecy. “Meaningful reform is being stopped dead in its tracks because ministers don’t want to close the loopholes they have been using to dodge scrutiny.
“Nobody will be fooled by the promise of further reviews and consultations designed to kick transparency into the long grass.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie and Democrat editor Bill Heaney.
“Freedom of information legislation was groundbreaking when Scottish Liberal Democrats first introduced it twenty years ago. What was supposed to be the beginning has been steadily unpicked by a shameless SNP Government.
“It is essential to inject transparency back into government. This really matters because we’ve seen Covid WhatsApps deleted, the needs of islanders relegated below confidentiality in the ferries fiasco and the government’s collapsed deposit return company exempt from FOI.
“To fix our broken politics we would expand FOI, introduce a new duty to record to end the culture of un-minuted meetings, and ensure Scotland keeps pace with international best practice by joining the Tromso Convention.”
Democrat editor Bill Heaney said: “I was thrown out of a council meeting because I asked the then Provost if the sound could be turned up in order that we could hear the business being done in the public’s name.
“I did not interrupt the meeting as was alleged and made my request in a polite manner during a tea break.
“I was then told I was banned from speaking to any of the press officers and told my questions would have to be submitted in writing to the FOI Commissioner.
“This was a deliberate attempt to stop me commenting in our on-line digital news and features and panel about the affairs of the council.
“They also questioned my credentials as a journalist despite the fact that I am a life member of the NUJ and a member of the Society of Editor.
“I have been Scotland’s Weekly Journalist of the Year on at least three occasions and have won several other prestigious awards.
“This ban has meant that we we are to take the word of the spin doctors and print it as gospel whether it is accurate or not. That, in any democratic society, is preposterous.
“The saddest thing of all is that the Labour Group, who are now in control of the Council, have never changed matters. It’s high time someone did something to rectify these matters and Freedom of the Press was given the respect it merits in this part of the world.”
The Scottish Government publication can be found here.
Previous Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis of Scottish Government freedom of information releases reveals that discussions of government business among ministers and civil servants on WhatsApp appear to have only been disclosed on two occasions: a single message between two civil servants and conversations in which a minister discusses briefings and diaries and requests staff bring her gnocchi.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for:
- Freedom of information laws to be expanded to cover companies which provide government services, after firms receiving up to £700 MILLION of taxpayers’ money a year to run services have been exempt
- The introduction of a new “duty to record” so that the public can always access information about important ministerial meetings and decision-making processes.
- An end to the Scottish Government placing adverse publicity clauses in public sector contracts, which prevent contractors from saying anything a minister deems detrimental to the public perception of the Scottish Government
- The Scottish Government to commit to international best practice by signing up to the Council of Europe’s Tromso Convention which provides a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities.