The law which should protect right to know

IT was created by the Labour government in the early years of devolution to ensure there was equal access to information for all.

But ironically ministers have been accused of riding roughshod over the freedom of information legislation – fuelling critics’ claims that they are ‘addicted to secrecy’.

A damning report from the Scottish Information Commissioner sparked fury last week, raising concerns over the involvement of ministers and special advisers in handling freedom of information (FOI) requests.

It criticised the Scottish Government for treating journalists, politicians and political researchers differently from members of the public.

An investigation by the commissioner, Daren Fitzhenry, found a lack of clarity over the role of special advisers in the Government’s clearance process for journalists’ requests and a ‘general lack of records of interactions between special advisers and case-handlers in the case files’.

Mr Fitzhenry called for a review of the clearance process and for the government to end the practice of treating some requests differently from others.

On Wednesday, Parliamentary Business Minister Joe Fitzpatrick repeatedly refused to say during a heated Holyrood debate if the Government had breached legislation relating to FOI requests.

Scottish Labour MSP Neil Findlay demanded an urgent inquiry, adding: ‘The report says that the letter and spirit of the law were not being met and that politically sensitive information was being treated differently.

‘Let me interpret that for the minister: The Government broke the law.’