The SNP are routinely failing to meet the legal deadline for responding to Freedom of Information requests, new research indicates.
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives reveal that the “mean” turnaround time for FOIs submitted by journalists to the Scottish Government in the last 12 months was 23 days. The longest response time was a staggering 235 days.
Under the 2002 Freedom of Information Act, the standard – and legally binding – timescale to reply to an FOI is “within 20 working days.”
The Scottish Conservatives reckon the failure to comply with FOI response requirements is symptomatic of an SNP government hostile to scrutiny.
Scottish Conservative MSP Roz McCall said: “These wait times are unacceptable and unjustifiable.
“The SNP always talk a good game on transparency, but their actions tell a very different story. The purpose of FOI legislation is to enable journalists and members of the public to hold those in authority to account.
“But it’s clear from these statistics that these efforts are being thwarted by an SNP government wedded to a secrecy culture.
“The most obvious example of their lack of transparency has been over the ferries fiasco, where documents have been lost, minutes of meetings haven’t been taken and ministers have had to have information dragged out of them by parliamentary committees.
“This also comes hot on the heels of the Scottish government’s refusal to disclose the contents of official messages sent by senior ministers using WhatsApp to conduct government business.
“And it’s not as if the SNP can point to a lack of resources for dragging their heels or rejecting FOI requests, because we know their spending on FOI response staff has increased.
“The sad and indefensible truth is that Nicola Sturgeon leads a government addicted to secrecy.”
Notes:
This comes as the Scottish Government’s FOI Unit has more than doubled in the past five years. In 2016, the year before the Scottish Information Commissioner issues a blistering attack on the Scottish Government’s approach to FOI, spending was £172,005. In 2021, this had risen to £539,020. (Scottish Government, 21 July 2022, link).
The Scottish Government are refusing to reveal which ministers were using WhatsApp for government business. Last year, six ministers used WhatsApp for Scottish Government business including Humza Yousaf. However, officials claimed that they could not supply the WhatsApp messages as they would need to search all documents relating to the appropriate request to find which would breach the cost limit for freedom of information request. That effectively means it is impossible for people to find out what ministers have been discussing over WhatsApp even if its government business. (Scotsman, 30 November 2022, link).