Petition · PE01512 · Session 4
Amendments to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Signatures
1
Comments
6
Considered
3 meetings
What it asks
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to strengthen the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 202 by requiring public bodies to provide full and accurate information in all responses to FOI requesters, and to extend the powers of the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) to enable the Commissioner to investigate complaints alleging erroneous responses. The SIC should also be able to impose monetary penalties on any public body which breaches the amended FOISA regulations on accuracy.
What the petitioner did first
It was only after I received “false” information in response to a FOI request that I became aware there is no obligation on public bodies covered by FOISA to be truthful and accurate in their responses.
So I took the issue up with the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Office, hoping they could intervene and investigate. However I was told in January 2014 by the SIC: “When information is supplied by a Scottish public authority in response to a request and the requester is dissatisfied because he or she believes that the information is misleading, inaccurate, contains errors, or is otherwise deficient, this is not something that the Commissioner can address in terms of FOISA.” I found that response to be both incredible and deeply disturbing.
I then asked my constituency MSP to raise the issue with the appropriate Scottish Government Minister, in this case Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities.
In her reply to my MSP, which was forwarded to me on February 12th 2014, Ms Sturgeon states: “Public bodies are required to provide information they have which is within the scope of a freedom of information request, but that does not necessarily mean that the information provided is always accurate and up to date”.
Surely that admission confirms that the current Freedom of Information arrangements are inadequate, and need to be underpinned by a guarantee of accuracy. Having exhausted other avenues in a bid to right this wrong I believe a parliamentary petition to be the only way to close an unfortunate if convenient loophole (for some) in FOISA.
So I took the issue up with the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Office, hoping they could intervene and investigate. However I was told in January 2014 by the SIC: “When information is supplied by a Scottish public authority in response to a request and the requester is dissatisfied because he or she believes that the information is misleading, inaccurate, contains errors, or is otherwise deficient, this is not something that the Commissioner can address in terms of FOISA.” I found that response to be both incredible and deeply disturbing.
I then asked my constituency MSP to raise the issue with the appropriate Scottish Government Minister, in this case Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities.
In her reply to my MSP, which was forwarded to me on February 12th 2014, Ms Sturgeon states: “Public bodies are required to provide information they have which is within the scope of a freedom of information request, but that does not necessarily mean that the information provided is always accurate and up to date”.
Surely that admission confirms that the current Freedom of Information arrangements are inadequate, and need to be underpinned by a guarantee of accuracy. Having exhausted other avenues in a bid to right this wrong I believe a parliamentary petition to be the only way to close an unfortunate if convenient loophole (for some) in FOISA.
Where it was considered
Official Report-
22 Apr 20141 mention
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6 May 20141 mention
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30 Sep 20141 mention
Signatures by country
70 online signaturesComments
6 comments, oldest first-
JOHN A SAMPSON 6 Mar 2014I agree with the substance and merit of this petition.
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Graeme Houston 10 Mar 2014All information held by Public Owned Bodies, i.e. Council, Government, Political Parties, Companies should be made freely available immediately without the need for FOI's
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Colin McNab 13 Mar 2014It is a nonsense that Freedom of Information can effectively be Freedom of Misinformation without any sanction being imposed on the Provider.
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Sam Smith 20 Mar 2014I think it is about time that those secretive organisations who have been exposed by the State Broadcaster who are effectively State Regulators are forced to be transparent and accountable for their actions, like the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal
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Alastair Lings 25 Mar 2014A Health Board claimed that it would be too expensive to find out and report how many times people had been sedated after being forcibly restrained. They had previously reported about 50 incidences of restraint. It shouldn't be too expensive to look through the cases they had already identified, to identify a sub-set of data. It makes one wonder what information they are hiding.
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Ji Sco 2 Apr 2014Same complaint time after time about regulators failing to properly regulate and people wonder why this country is in the state that it finds itself today!