Authorities have responded well
to FOI legislation in the two years since its inception, but "a lot of
work"¯ is needed to build upon this, Information Commissioner Kevin
Dunion said today.
The challenge facing public
authorities in Scotland is converting compliance of the Freedom of
Information legislation to a real change in culture, Dunion said as he
launched his third annual report.
The Commissioner has received
1,082 appeals in the two years since the Act came into operation -
double the amount per year received by the Information Commissioner
south of the Border.
Of the thousands of Scots who
made valid requests for information to public authorities over the last
year, 511 appealed to the Commissioner.
Ordinary members of the public
are making more use of the legislation - 65 per cent of all
applications for appeals in 2006 came from individuals in Scotland,
compared to 55 per cent in 2005.
The figure belies the common
view that the legislation is only being used by the legal profession,
members of the media and politicians, who count for 12, 8 and 6 per
cent of applications respectively.
Dunion said: "Our own freedom of
information law is one of the strongest in the world in terms of its
provisions, and reflecting upon the second full year of operation of
the legislation, most public authorities have risen to the challenges
presented to them and the public is increasingly confident that their
requests will be handled appropriately."
"We have seen further examples
of public authorities releasing information into the public domain that
previously would not have been available."
"However, whilst there is much
to celebrate, there are still significant areas for improvement and we
cannot afford to be complacent. I will be commissioning research in
2007 to look beyond the response to individual requests for information
to find out whether authorities are changing how they record, retain
and publish information."
Public awareness of the new
freedom of information rights grew markedly, up from 47 per cent before
the Act was in force to 72 per cent in the first year of operation,
which is reflected in the sustained high volume of requests for
information to public authorities.
Cases ranged from local matters,
such as registered sex offenders and local authority housing repairs,
to matters of national and even international significance, such as the
Dungavel Detention Centre and rendition flights at Prestwick Airport.
Dunion added: "The freedom of
information regime is only two years old and we can be satisfied at the
use being made of it and the general level of compliance in Scotland.
We need to remember that the avowed intent when it was brought in by
the Scottish Parliament was to promote a new culture of openness in
place of an old culture of secrecy."
"The immediate task of
successfully implementing the Freedom of Information Act has now been
met - now the real challenge of converting from compliance to culture
change is under way."
Read the annual report in full
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