25 May 2001
The Scottish NHS Confederation today (May 25) highlighted a number of practical concerns regarding the draft Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill in its response to the Scottish Executive's consultation on the proposed legislation.
Director of the Scottish NHS Confederation, Hilary Robertson, said: "The Confederation believes that the draft Bill contains some broadly welcome measures to underpin and foster a philosophy of openness in Scotland's public bodies. However, clarification on a number of points is needed in order to ensure the legislation works effectively."
The procedure surrounding the payment of fees, for example, could be confusing for both applicants and public bodies. The draft Bill obliges public bodies to comply with a 20 working day deadline for dealing with requests whether or not a fee has been requested and adds that 'the time elapsed between issuing a fees notice and receiving the fee would be disregarded'. However, there is no obligation to provide the information requested if the applicable fee is not paid and the draft Bill allows applicants up to three months to pay the fee during which time the information they requested would not have to be provided. These two stipulations appear to be entirely at odds and would make it hard for public bodies to be sure they were complying with the legislation.
Last reviewed 25 Oct 2006