Care home and 'care at home' service providers - FOISA extension: consultation

2. Introduction

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) gives people important rights to ask for and receive information from the government and public services in Scotland.

The Scottish Government sees these rights as a key part of being open and transparent with the public. The Scottish Government believes these rights should enable people to access information about all public services in Scotland.

Section 5 of FOISA allows the Scottish Government to extend the legislation to further organisations. This can include organisations that provide public functions, even if they are not part of the public sector.

The Scottish Government believes that social care services—like care homes and ‘care at home’—are vital services for our communities. Many of these services are delivered either by private businesses or by charitable or not-for-profit organisations (i.e. the third sector). They are often supported by significant public funding, and always subject to significant public regulation and oversight. The Scottish Government is consulting on extension of FOISA to these services because it recognises the importance of these services for people and because of its commitment to effective rights of access to information about all public services.

Responses to the consultation will inform our assessment of whether and when care home and ‘care at home’ services can be considered to be providing public functions. Subject to the outcomes of that assessment it will also inform our decisions on whether, and in what fashion, to exercise the Scottish Government’s power to extend FOISA to private and third sector providers of such services.

There is already significant reach of access to information rights within the social care sector. Local authorities, NHS Boards and Integration Joint Boards are already subject to FOISA. This means that they have to respond to requests for information they hold about the services they commission or provide.

This consultation seeks views on the extent to which making third and private sector social care providers directly subject to FOISA in their own right, would meaningfully enhance those rights of access to information regarding the delivery of social care services in Scotland.

Ministers recognise the diversity of provision in the sector as well as the challenges faced by many private and third sector providers of care services. This consultation therefore also seeks input on the best and most proportionate approach to any extension of FOI rights in the sector – to ensure that extension of access to information rights does not create an excessive burden on providers and therefore does not compromise the resources available to deliver quality care services.

The Scottish Government hopes that this consultation will allow all stakeholders to engage in a constructive discussion on these matters.