Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland

@cfoiscot.bsky.social

199 Followers 321 Following

CFolS campaigns for a robust legal right to access information so people can find out how they are governed and how 'public' services operate.

Text reads: CFoIS Director writes about the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill for Third Force News Screenshot of Third Force News website article 'Will MSPs meet demands for FoI reform?'
Text reads: Positively, the public supports legal reform of Scotland's 24 years FoI law: Proactive publication is viewed as a more efficient and accessible approach than relying solely on formal FOI requests. 92% believe who is covered by FoI law should be regularly reviewed to ensure organisations providing important public services are covered. 87% believe FoI rights should be equally applied so accessing information about public services provided by private sector organisations should be the same as a public body providing the service. 88% believe the Scottish Information Commissioner should have the resources to support organisations that are performing poorly in relation to FoI law.
Photo shows a laptop and a piece of paper with a pencil on top Text reads: Great News! Freedom of Information awareness in Scotland is at its highest ever.
Text reads: Event The Scottish Public Information Forum (SPIF) will meet on the 8th of June, chaired by John McLellan from Newsbrands Scotland Free Location: Committee Room 5, Scottish Parliament Building, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP or join online Monday 8 June at 10:30 - 12:30 GMT
Text reads: Holyrood Manifesto Campaign for Freedom of Information (CFoIS) CFoIS invites all candidates for the Scottish Parliament elections to support our Manifesto listing 6 actions to mainstream transparency by design across the delivery of public services. 1. Support the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill when it begins the Stage 2 process at the Scottish Parliament from May 2026 and ensure it becomes law at the earliest opportunity. 2. Following the public consultation exercises in 2019 and 2025, equalise designation of public bodies under FoI law which deliver care homes and care at home services. 3. Agree a proportionate uplift in budget for the independent Scottish Information Commissioner, who is appointed by the Parliament, to accommodate the increasing need for their investigative, mediation, adjudication and enforcement functions. 4. Commit to supporting and passing Anti-SLAPP legislation early in the new session of Parliament. 5. Work with the UK...
Text reads: Holyrood Manifesto Campaign for Freedom of Information (CFoIS)
Text reads: NEWSLETTER Do you want to get news stories about transparency and accountability straight to your inbox? CFoIS
Text reads: NEWSLETTER Do you want to find out more about Freedom of Information in Europe? CFoIS
Text reads: MARCH NEWSLETTER INSIDE THE LATEST INSTALMENT OF OUR NEWSLETTER CFoIS
Text reads: New FoI code of practice published Photo shows documents
Text reads: Secret Scotland Will the Scottish Government face another court case over FoI non-compliance? CFoIS Graphic shows a redacted document
Text reads: Support the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill Photo shows CFoIS Director Carole Ewart and Katy Clark MSP at the Scottish Parliament
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 came into effect at the beginning of 2005. It provided rights to see information held by public bodies, such as the Scottish Government and local councils. It was a huge innovation at the time. However, I believe that time has moved on and those rights need to catch up with the world we live in now.” - Dr Derek Manson Smith, Treasurer, the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland
Text reads: “FOI, introduced over 20 years ago, was an important milestone in the new Scottish Parliament. FOI was, and remains, consistent with founding principles of the Scottish Parliament: openness, accessibility and accountability. Change has occurred since; however, we need to make sure that FOI keeps up and ensure all those, including contractors, involved in delivering public services are also accountable to FOI. CWU fully supports Katy Clark’s updated legislation and hopes that the Parliament does too.” - Communications Workers Union (CWU)
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “Freedom of Information has a vital role to play in supporting transparency, democracy and accountability. It is clear that the current framework there are too many opportunities for information to be withheld, leading to a lack of scrutiny over decision making. RMT is therefore supporting the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is seeking to introduce much needed legal reform to the FOI framework in Scotland.” - The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
Text reads: FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill has widespread support “FBU Scotland supports this Bill and the desire to see transparency in all aspects of the provision of public services, whether directly or indirectly. It will help to ensure accountability extends to include the arm's length contracts that are so prevalent in the public sector, and to strengthen the current legislation to prevent circumvention of their responsibilities. The public need to be able to hold companies and bodies to account, this Bill helps us do that.” - Fire Brigades Union Scotland (FBU)
Text reads: Support the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill “Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS) believes that the Scottish Freedom of Information Act is essential in enabling human rights defenders (both organisations and individuals) to access the information they require to effectively campaign and lobby for change. Following 20 years of high impact, we are supportive of the work ongoing by the Campaign for Freedom of Information Scotland and its partners to update the Act.”
Text reads: Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill enjoys widespread support The SPPA Committee’s call for views shows widespread support for the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill. Photo shows someone writing in a notebook
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “The Centre for Law and Democracy congratulates Scotland on 20 years of successful implementation of its Freedom of Information Act. We recently assessed the Act on our respected RTI Rating and it earned a score of 103 points out of a possible total of 150, which would put it in 36th place from among the 150 countries which have such laws. Although this is positive, we support the work by the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (CFoIS) to build all-party support for reform of the Act to further improve it.”
Text reads: Support the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill “FOI is a critical tool to aid transparency and hold decision-makers to account. Since its introduction FOI has helped Scotland track who makes decisions, why and in whose interests. However, FOI needs to be updated and expanded. In the railways we know about the influence of private providers and it's unfair that these contractors are exempt from FOI. This needs to be corrected and ASLEF wholeheartedly supports Katy Clark in trying to improve Scotland's FOI legislation.” - ASLEF, the train drivers’ union
Text reads: Support the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill “I fully support the FOI Reform Bill because the money in the public purse is finite. There is no magic money tree. The public should have the right to know exactly where their taxes are being spent. When organisations and businesses are taking money from the public purse to provide services of a public nature, we should know what they are doing with that money and be allowed to ask.” - Mandy Reid, Secretary, the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland
Text reads: Support the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill “The Edinburgh Freelance Branch of the National Union of Journalists strongly supports Katy Clark's proposed Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill. Several of our members have made use of the existing FoI provisions and agree that increased transparency can only be good for democracy. The proposed bill is an opportunity for Scotland to lead the way in its approach to accountability in civic life. The branch urges all parties to support it.”
Text reads: Thumbs up for FoI Reform! “We strongly support the extension of effective rights to Freedom of Information which the Clark Bill furthers, and the important campaigning work which CFOIS carries out. This is vital to the continuing development of democracy and civic participation across the nation, not least within the trade union movement.” - SNP Trade Union Group
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “To improve efficiency and transparency in the public interest – and to ensure that trade unions can access information for collective bargaining - FOI processes in Scotland require change. The Third sector has expanded and public funds have been given to ALEO's, outsourced organisations and private bodies involved in running core public services. These groups are not covered under existing legislation – making accessing information difficult and creating a lack of transparency.” - Unite The Union Scotland
Text reads: #FoIReformNow “It is welcome. The legislation has been in force for a number of years, and it is useful to refresh it every now and then, to understand whether it is meeting the wishes of the Parliament and the public.” - Chris Milne, Scottish Higher Education Information Practitioners Group
Text reads: FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill has widespread support “It tackles the most obvious deficiencies that have emerged because of the passage of time. That is the most important part of [the Bill].” - Professor Kevin Dunion
Text reads: Care 4 FoI? What happens in Scotland’s care homes matters. That is why we support extending FoI to the care sector. To find out more, attend one of CFoIS’ online briefings, held in conjunction with supporting organisations, about extending FoI to the care sector. Photo shows someone giving another person a helping hand
Text reads: #FoIReformNow “We want full transparency, or as much transparency as humanly possible. We are talking about taxpayers’ money, and things are hard for working-class people and working-class communities. Nobody wants public money to be squandered, and we want accountability. You guys, as parliamentarians, are ultimately responsible for that and should be held to account for your actions and omissions.” - Gordon Martin, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “It was a safety net that could be used in extreme circumstances. It has proved not to be needed and it has not been used. We hope that it will never be used if it remains, but why not remove it while you have the opportunity?” - Alex Parsons, mySociety/WhatDoTheyKnow, on the proposed repealing of the First Minister’s veto power under section 52 of FoISA 2002.
Text reads: Support for the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill “[T]he bill is certainly a step towards modernisation. Even within the past 20 years, technology has moved on quite rapidly, so having additional requirements for proactive publication and moving away from the original publication schemes are definitely welcome steps.” - Dr Erin Ferguson, University of Aberdeen
Text reads: Thumbs up for FoI Reform! “Simply put, the freedom of information regime in Scotland needs reformed. This Bill focuses on the most important and necessary matters requiring legislative reform. The real question is: will MSPs deliver this crucial Bill by 25th March?” - David Goldberg, Chair of the Board of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland Thumbs up graphic is displayed in the bottom right corner
Text reads: “Transparency is an essential principle underpinning democracy. Unless we, the public, can see what Government is doing, who they are working with and how they are spending public money we cannot adequately hold them to account for their decisions. The existing Freedom of Information legislation has proven its worth time and time again throughout the lifetime of the Parliament but it has also shown its limits - particularly where public services are outsourced to private companies and as a result, we lose the transparency that we would have had had the services remained in public hands. This Bill aims to redress that weakness and so Common Weal supports it.”
Text reads: FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill has widespread support “[O]ne of the big steps forward in the bill is the emphasis that is put—not only through the purpose provisions, but through the greater control arising from the proposed code of practice on publication—on the proactive side of things that is often lost and neglected.” - Dr Ben Worthy, Birkbeck College
Text reads: #FoIReformNow “[G]iven the on-going decline in trust in democracy, following-the-money reforms to FOISA, moving to proactive publication and improved transparency of decision making are not just nice-to-haves; they are essential protections against the roll-back of democratic norms that we are seeing globally. It is vital to ensure that, in Scotland, we are still abiding by the highest international freedom of information standards, not falling behind.” - Juliet Swann, Transparency International UK
Text reads: FoI Reform proves to be popular “This is one of the elements that I am strongly encouraging; in fact, the question that we should be asking is why information officers do not already exist. We have mentioned that data protection legislation requires you to have a designated data protection officer.” - Professor Kevin Dunion on the proposed statutory requirement for an FoI Officer.
Text reads: Care 4 FoI? All providers of care home and ‘care at home’ services should be covered by FoI law to ensure equality on the delivery of transparency rights and compliance with duties. To find out more, attend one of CFoIS’ online briefings, held in conjunction with supporting organisations, about extending FoI to the care sector. Photo shows two people holding hands
CFoIS pays tribute to Lord Jim Wallace
CFoIS Director writes about the need for FoI reform for Scottish Legal News
UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition commemorates 5 years with a letter to the Government
FoI Reform Bill Update SPPA Committee publishes Stage 1 Report on the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill
Time is up today! Will the Scottish Government choose transparency or secrecy?
“As an independent researcher working on transparency, accountability, and open parliaments, I welcome the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill as a timely and well-grounded effort to strengthen access to information in a modern democratic context.” - Idah Knowles, Independent Researcher
Care 4 FoI? In conjunction with The Jimmy Reid Foundation. Free Location: Online 12 February from 5:00PM to 6:00PM GMT
January Newsletter Inside the latest instalment of our newsletter
Care 4 FoI? In conjunction with UNISON. Free Location: Online 4 February from 11:30AM to 12:30PM GMT
Scottish Government launches consultation on extending FoI to care sector
“What happens here in Scotland—your Freedom of Information Reform Bill—matters to us in Poland, and indeed, to many others in Europe.” - Marzena Błaszczyk, Sieć Obywatelska Watchdog Polska (Citizens Network Watchdog Poland)
CFoIS submits additional evidence to the SPPA Committee
“Finally, it is also an important right in a free society to be freely allowed to contribute to society’s well-being. However, if that is to occur, it must be possible for society’s state of affairs to become known to everyone, and it must be possible for everyone to speak his mind freely about it. Where this is lacking, liberty is not worth its name.” - Peter Forsskål
Celebrating Helena Jäderblom’s retirement
CFoIS provides supplementary evidence to the SPPA Committee
eCase FOI Awards 2026 eCaseFOIAwards.co.uk
International Human Rights Day 2025 Freedom of Information as an ‘Everyday Essential’
Photo shows logos of organisations which are signatory to the letter
CFoIS stands with other human rights defenders who fulfil duties and promote FoI rights in Scotland, the Scottish Information Commissioner and his team, as well as the FoI workers in the 10,000 public bodies designated under FoISA.