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

6. Conclusions

A range of individuals and organisations with varied and detailed knowledge and experiences participated in the consultation. This report provides a high-level summary of the consultation responses. For more details, readers are encouraged to read individual responses, where permission was given for publication, via the Scottish Government’s consultation website.

Over half of respondents felt FOISA should be extended to care home services and ‘care at home’ services, including such services delivered to children and young people. Individuals were most likely to support an extension to FOISA across these services than organisations that responded. Reasons for supporting a FOISA extension included that it would enhance transparency and a rights-based approach and that these services were publicly funded.

Slightly fewer supported an extension to ‘care at home’ services than for care homes. It was felt that there could be difficulties in disentangling such services from wider support provided to people. Other concerns included worries about the capacity to respond to FOI requests and related to this, the potential impact on service delivery, as well as privacy and safeguarding considerations. While such concerns were seen by some to disproportionately impact small service providers, size was not felt to be a relevant consideration by others.

Ways to support care providers or enable people who use care services and their carers to obtain information about care services were suggested by respondents. These included guidance, promotion, templates, advice and ideas for how the extension could be implemented. Further, a wide range of topics were identified by respondents that could be subject to FOISA requests should an extension be implemented.

In conclusion, respondents were divided about whether to extend FOISA to care homes and ‘care at home’ services in the third and private sectors, with opportunities as well as challenges identified regarding how a FOISA extension could impact providers, people who use these services, and other members of the public.