This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Freedom of Information conference
03/10/2005
More than two thirds of Scots are aware of new rules under the Freedom of Information Act nine months after its introduction, a special conference in Edinburgh was told today.
Minister for Parliamentary Business Margaret Curran said:
"FOI has already given people the opportunity to find out more about their local schools, hospitals and councils and the feed back to date is generally positive.
"While we can't judge the overall success of FOI on the first few months, we can use the experience to look at whether there are ways we can improve things.
"It is already clear that some lessons could be learned, for example, on the operation of the fee structure and what bodies are covered by the act.
"That's why the Scottish government has decided to review the first few months of FOI and allow people to have their say on any suggested changes.
"We will also be reviewing whether there is still a need for the Ministerial certificate exempting certain G8 related information from FOI on grounds of national security.
"Experience from other countries shows that FOI has led to improved communication with the public, greater transparency and accountability and a significant rise in the pro-active release of information. That is what we are committed to."
The FOI(Scotland) Act 2002 came into force on January 1 2005.
The review being proposed will allow individuals and public bodies to express views on any aspect of the operation of the new regime, in particular the operation of the fees, public bodies that are or should be within the scope of the legislation and whether there is a continuing need for a Ministerial certificate protecting certain G8 related information.
There are currently around 10,000 bodies covered by the Act from the Scottish parliament and Executive to individual GP practices.
The G8 certificate was signed in May 2005 and certified that certain limited information relating to national security for the G8 Summit in Gleneagles was exempt fro release under section 31 of the FOI Act, subject to an assessment of the public interest. Now that the summit is complete, it is appropriate to review the certificate to see whether it is still needed in whole, in part of at all.