Tories blast SNP over secret Scotland

Alex Salmond has come under fire yet again for nurturing a culture of secrecy at the heart of government.

The Sunday Post has learned that the number of appeals to the country’s right to know tsar sparked by the Scottish Government ignoring Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests has more than trebled since 2010.

The research was conducted by the Scottish Conservatives in the wake of the SNP’s refusal to answer questions about the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. It shows the number of appeals received by the Information Commissioner, in which the Scottish Government has failed to provide any response to a request, stood at 13 in 2010/11. That soared to 49 the following year, and then 45 for 2012/13.

The figures have raised fresh concerns about the Scottish Government’s transparency.

Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: “These figures show the lengths to which Alex Salmond will go to keep secrets from the people of Scotland. These laws exist so that public bodies are transparent and can be held to account by the people they are supposed to serve.

“But the Scottish Government’s shameful FOI record shows Alex Salmond seems to ignore, sidestep or refuse to answer any question he doesn’t like.”

A spokesperson from the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland said: “This shows that public authorities are still not proactively publishing information. Eleven years after the Act was passed, they should be releasing information automatically, rather than dreaming up ways to exempt it.”

When FOI was introduced in 2005, it was supposed to allow the public access to information public bodies didn’t routinely publish. However, the SNP Government has repeatedly come under attack for running roughshod over the legislation.

In September last year it went to court to prevent details of the Scottish Government’s legal advice on the EU being made public. The move followed criticism Mr Salmond personally had a hand in delaying details about his doomed plans for a local income tax. It later emerged the Scottish Government has the worst record of any public body in the country in dealing with FOI requests.

The Information Commissioner’s annual report showed it accounts for 29% of appeals on the grounds of a failure to respond, twice as high as Edinburgh Council, the second worst offender. While the Scottish Government blamed the volume of requests it receives, Edinburgh gets more FOI enquiries than the Scottish Government yet has half the appeal rate.

Earlier this month another row broke out when it emerged Mr Salmond charged the taxpayer £250 for a pair of tartan trews and didn’t pay it back until the media asked questions.

Two days later his officials came under fire again for running up a £20,000 bill to cover up the legal advice about an independent Scotland’s EU status knowing all the while that the advice did not exist.

Ms Davidson added: “It is bad enough that just a quarter of FOI requests are answered within the legal limit, but we now find the Government is ignoring legitimate requests for information.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Scotland has the most robust Freedom of Information regime in the UK. So far in 2013, three quarters of the 1,653 requests received have been answered on time.

“Our commitment to proactive publication and sharing of information with the public is enshrined in legislation.

“As an example of our continuous improvement the Scottish Government now makes historic files available to the public after just 15 years sooner than anywhere else in the UK.”