Government Extends Freedom of Information Laws
July 29th, 2010 by adminThe Scottish government has begun investigating the extent to which freedom of information laws need to be extended to ensure that organisations make information available to the public in the same way that public bodies do.
The reasoning behind this request for a more consistent blanket approach is due to the fact that public authorities frequently outsource for contractors and other organisations and companies to run the show at arm length. The result of this is that members of the general public lose their right to access certain information from the public authority in regard to those services.
Even some of Scotland’s prisons are run by private companies. The Association of Chief Police Officers co-ordinate policies for such to abide by and in accordance with the Scottish governments proposal, these ought to be covered by freedom of information laws.
The Scottish government recently chose to launch an investigation into the need for further regulation in a bid to prevent unnecessarily swamping private companies with further legislation to abide by.
Parliamentary business minister Bruce Crawford stated that transparency with the public is fundamental to a democratic society. If it is found to be required, the freedom of information laws will be extended by Scottish ministers to enable such transparency.
The proposal to extend this law in Scotland was initially contemplated by Kevin Dunion, the Scottish Information Commissioner.
The consultation document lays down the scope of the proposed rules as well as stating when and how these rules will apply to private companies operating public organisations. The company’s annual income will be a factor of its level of appropriation to the proposed rules, should they come into force after being approved by Scottish ministers.
