The number of successful appeals against public bodies accused of secrecy has climbed as cases handled by Scotland’s information commissioner hit a 16-year high.
Commissioner Daren Fitzhenry received 626 appeals against freedom of information decisions by public bodies, a 29% increase on the previous year and the highest since 2005. He upheld 119 cases compared to 104 the previous year.
Labour MSP Katy Clark has launched a consultation on her private members’ bill to strengthen the legislation by extending it to all taxpayer-funded services delivered by private and third-sector organisations and charities, such as private care homes. The West Scotland MSP said: “There is more awareness and use of freedom of information, but also more awareness of its failings.”
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 gives everyone the right to ask for any information held by Scottish public authorities but Clark said the legislation needs to modernise.
She said: “It was landmark legislation when it was introduced 20 years ago and reforms are long overdue.” She said private firms receiving public money without scrutiny was particularly apparent during the pandemic.
She said: “Grieving families have in many cases been unable to illicit key information because so many homes are in the private sector and entirely exempt from freedom of information.”
Two years ago Holyrood’s public audit committee said changes were needed to improve transparency and accountability.
“For no firm proposals to be brought forward by the Scottish Government is concerning,” said Clark. “Access to information is an essential tenet in a democracy.
“As an MSP, it is frustrating that the quality of answers given to parliamentary questions is often so poor and superficial that freedom of information requests are one of the most effective ways of getting access to information which should be provided to politicians and the public.”
Journalists report the facts, uncover truths and campaign for readers. That is a job that will always be worth doing
by John McLellan, Director of the Scottish Newspaper Society
Just before lockdown, Scotland’s favourite son was out and about in our towns and cities, raising awareness and vital cash for some of the country’s most poorly children.
Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail not only raised £1.3m for children’s hospital charities but reconnected the country with a cultural icon at the heart of this newspaper for more than 80 years.
The campaign was in the finest tradition of Scottish news publishing, rooted in the community and using the power of a trusted brand as a force for good in innovative ways.
The modern Sunday Post, Scotland’s Sunday Newspaper of the Year, raises the voice of Scots across a range of important issues. From campaigning for female victims of male violence and care home residents put at risk in the pandemic, to fighting for justice for mesh-injured women while fighting to secure the appointment of a Women’s Health Champion, every week the paper holds authority to account on behalf of its readers.
The Post is far from alone, however. Nationally, The Sunday Mail’s Anne’s Law series argued for the need to ensure care home residents are never without visitors while the Greenock Telegraph’s Time To Talk mental health campaign and the Press & Journal’s Beach Clean initiative are just two examples of local and regional Scottish news titles standing up for their readers
Campaigns have always been a staple of Scottish news publishing, and every week our titles use the power of print, social media presence and online platforms to bring trusted news and vital campaigns to millions of Scots. Some 90% of people interact with a news brand at least once a month and last week the national Journalism Matters campaign was demonstrating how much poorer our world would be without fearless, independent, quality journalism.
Trusted journalism matters, but its future is still very much under threat, and amidst recent upheaval in Westminster, it is essential the UK Government gives the new Digital Markets Unit the promised legal teeth it needs to ensure the big tech platforms pay a fair price for news publishers’ stories they re-use for nothing, currently valued at £1 billion a year.
So, too, could the Scottish Government do more to support journalism in Scotland when it spends only a 20th of its marketing and advertising budgets with Scottish news publishers which reach so many people, and support thousands of Scottish jobs. It could also invest in the proposed Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute, which it claims to support.
Like many sectors over the past three years, Covid, the energy crisis and global inflation pose existential threats to many of our businesses, but without trusted, independent journalism and properly trained, professional journalists the public would be fed a diet of spin, misinformation, and social media-driven fake news.
Reporting the facts, uncovering truth, and campaigning on issues readers care about is what newspapers like The Sunday Post do every week, and Journalism Matters was a timely reminder of why the job always needs doing.
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