Model Publication Scheme monitoring

The research carried out on the Commissioner's behalf by Craigforth Ltd, involved a "mystery-shopping" exercise with a sample of 71 Scottish public bodies in March and April 2018. The study specifically focussed on the accessibility of each authority's Guide to Information, procurement information and decision-making information, as well as the provision of advice and assistance. The research also looked at the extent to which authorities' publication practices met three of the six Model Publication Scheme principles:

• The availability and format of information
• The charging principle
• The duration of the information published

Researchers found the majority of Scottish public authorities are complying with their legal obligations to publish information, but not all do, and provision is not always consistent.

Broadly, the findings show:

• The vast majority of authorities publish their Guides to Information online - 94 per cent of public authorities publish their Guides online and 85 per cent have their Guides linked to their home page.
• Many authorities are not keeping their Guides to Information up to date - 35 per cent of authorities show when their Guides were last updated. Despite a revision to the Model Publication Scheme in June 2017, only 18 per cent of authorities' Guides had a review date after this change.
• Information on procurement and decision-making is not always easy to find - only 61 per cent of authorities give a web link to procurement information in their Guide to Information and for only 34 per cent, the information can be reached within 3 clicks from the home page. For decision-making information, 68 per cent of authorities have a web link in their Guide to Information. However, only 28 per cent provide this information fewer that 3 clicks from their home pages.
• Most telephone and email requests were dealt with well - 18 out of 20 emails sent received responses, 13 within a week.

Learning points:

• Make sure your Guide to Information is kept up to date! There were revisions to the Guide in 2017. Including a review date on the Guide is good practice. 
• Make sure procurement and decision-making information isn't hidden and can be accessed easily from your home page. Include active web links to this information in your Guide to Information.

The research assessed the following:

• Accessibility of each public authority's Guide to Information (GTI)
• Accessibility of specific categories of information (decision making, open data and re-use of information (if an authority was covered))
• Follow-up contact assessed the public authority's provision of advice and assistance

The researchers found that, while 94% of public bodies had an online Guide to Information to help access published information:

• 91% of public authorities provided one or more types of information relating to decision making (minutes of meetings, agendas, strategies and plans) online but only 54% provided all three.
• 79% are not publishing open data through their GTIs (a new class in May 2016 to support the Scottish Government's Open Data Strategy)
• Of those subject to the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 very few made specific reference to the regulations, with only a small number of them referring to having a policy.

The researchers found that, while 94% of public bodies had an online "Guide to Information" to help people access published information:

• Only 41% published adequate information on procurement and contracts
• Only 46% published adequate information on spending and salaries
• 20% of email and 21% of telephone requests for assistance were not responded to.

In response to the findings, the Commissioner encourages public authorities to:

• Publish more information online and in different formats
• Provide direct links to information in their Guides to Information
• Use plain language to help the public find information
• Provide advice and assistance as part of good customer service.

Responding to Craigforth's findings, Commissioner Rosemary Agnew said:

"I wanted this research to replicate as far as possible the experience of the average person trying to find information about public authorities. While Craigforth are experienced researchers, they are not FOI experts and that was important.

The findings were mixed. It's very positive to confirm that the overwhelming majority of authorities publish easily accessible guides to the information they make available. But it's disappointing to learn that such important information on spending and procurement too often could not be found. It is also unacceptable that around one in five requests for help went unanswered.

Freedom of information requires authorities to publish information, and to help anyone who wants to access it. Easy access to information is fundamental to citizen engagement. It is also an important part of establishing a relationship of trust and accountability, without which confidence in public services is undermined."