Information code has not delivered fully
Four years ago, the commitment of every election candidate to a culture of openness and transparency was a cornerstone of campaigning.
But fine words and actions are two very different things. While we see pockets of sporadic progress, there remains a remarkable tendency to release information only when it is convenient and in the States' interests to do so.
Today the Scrutiny Management Committee has recommended that the island introduces a freedom of information law, rather than relying on the cushy and comfortable world that the current code of practice has led to. The self-policed access to public information regime has gone as far as it can, but it has not been capable of driving consistent and widespread cultural change.
That much is apparent from one committee’s rather glib response to Scrutiny: ‘rarely does the release of the data improve the quality of life for residents of the Bailiwick’. As SMC comment, this shows that there is an uphill task faced in driving cultural change across the board.
Everyone is in agreement that an independent appeals mechanism is needed to improve public confidence in the existing regime, although the one committee that could have done anything about this, Policy & Resources, was late to the party and gives the impression of caring little about it actually happening.
Given the remit and attitudes of the respective committees, handing political responsibility to SMC to enhance the regime makes sense.
Where there is divergence is both how powerful that appeals body should be and whether the whole information regime should be put on a statutory basis. There are two primary arguments against an FoI law. One is the perception that it would be too prescriptive, which rather presumes the States is doing all it can already to push out information to the public. The other is based on cost. There is significant doubt around the scare figures used in the past – much of the cost exists already, it is just hidden in the practices and procedures of the States. SMC wants to drill down into the reality.
The public has not seen a genuine commitment to the API code. Significant reform is needed.