Information on the FoISA Reform Bill Campaign
18th May 2025 In preparation for publication of Katy Clark MSPs’ members Bill to reform FoISA, CFoIS is creating a list of resources to inform debate on the general principles of the Bill. This list will gradually be added to over the next fourteen days.
CFoIS report from 2020
January 2025 CFoIS welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Parliamentary Business, along with Katy Clark MSP, on 8th January. The meeting was very useful in our work to build all party support for reform of FoISA.
CFoIS has recruited a Communications Officer and we are working on getting materials ready to launch the FoISA Reform Campaign. CFoIS was pleased that knowledge of the draft Bill was raised at the meeting of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee on 30th January 2025 which was taking evidence from the Scottish Information Commissioner and senior team members.
October 2024 CFoIS is delighted to have been awarded a grant by the JRSST Charitable Trust to focus on securing legal change in Scotland’s outdated FoI law and will work until March 2026 to:
- Launch a campaign to build all party support to reform FoISA via Katy Clark MSP’s Member’s Bill, by promoting a compelling, evidence based narrative for parliamentary action.
- Inform and secure meaningful legal change through expert briefings on the Bill, promoting analysis and evidence, drafting amendments which solve problems and citing best practice to ensure the Bill is as good as it can be.
- Grow public interest in the parliamentary process and in this legislation by championing the interdependence of robust FoI rights with responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels of our democracy.
Work is underway to inform the detail of the Bill and provide commentary on the accompanying documents.
Bill Update On 28th November 2023, the Scottish Government announced it would not progress a Bill to reform FoISA. Therefore Katy Clark MSP lodged a proposal for a Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill and achieved sufficient cross party support to introduce it to the Scottish Parliament. In September 2024, she provided an update to SPIF.
“Finalising the detail of my member’s Bill is progressing well. I have had a meeting with the Parliamentary clerks who have provided feedback on the sections and accompanying documents. I appreciate the helpful comments that have been provided by CFoIS, Dr Sean Whittaker from the Centre for FoI at Dundee University and Rachel Hanna from Access Info Europe. I have also spoken with members of the legal profession to discuss the implications of the draft Bill. It is not a simple process and we are clear that only so much can be achieved from a member’s Bill especially when trying to address the FoI deficit caused by the decades of fragmentation in public service delivery providers across Scotland.
“When I was given permission to progress a member’s Bill, the MSPs supporting my Bill were listed on the Scottish Parliament website and although more MSPs have indicated their support subsequently, their names can no longer be added to that published list. However I look forward to receiving their support when I publish my FoI Reform Bill soon and I look forward to the subsequent cross party debate at Stage 1.
“I welcome the opportunity to work with you all in the coming months to ensure my Bill delivers robust transparency and accountability provisions to enable informed scrutiny.”
30th June 2023 The Scottish Government has published its analysis of responses to its consultation on FoI. The document can be accessed HERE. 66 of the responses are published HERE. The Scottish Government concludes that it “will consider the outcomes from this consultation
analysis, and provide its response later in 2023.”
Katy Clark MSP issued a consultation seeking views on the reform of FoI law. CFoIS supports this consultation as it is based on our draft Bill and Explanatory Notes published in January 2022. The consultation closed on 14th March 2023 and the CFoIS submission is available HERE. CFoIS thanks everyone who provided comments and participated in meetings to share their views.
Related documents: Leaflet summarising the issues and opportunities, CFoIS FoISA Reform Bill and Explanatory Notes which accompany the Bill
The Scottish Government’s consultation adopted a different approach to FoI rights. CFoIS welcomes the questions raised but is firmly of the view that reform of FoISA is urgent and overdue. Our submission is available HERE.
Useful document Question 12 in the Scottish Government consultation relates to Section 6 of FoISA: “Are you aware of any specific instances where access to information through FOISA has been frustrated as a consequence of the current structure of the section 6 provisions?” A CFoIS briefing will help with your response. It explains the difficulty in finding the names of companies wholly owned by designated bodies which should be automatically covered by FoISA. It also provides evidence of why Section 6 of FoISA needs to be strengthened, and enforcement of the duty by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Meetings CFoIS was pleased to attend the three online consultations organised by the Scottish Government. Each meeting provided an opportunity to share views and hear from others .