MSPs refuse to beef up FoI

MSPs approved a Bill amending existing laws to vary the length of exemptions and allow prosecutions where public bodies had destroyed records or denied their existence.

But the SNP government shot down a raft of reforms tabled by the opposition.

Scottish Labour's Elaine Murray unsuccessfully sought to bring any arm's-length organisation or contractor providing public services under the Act, along with any contract worth more than £1 million.

And fellow Labour MSP Iain Gray pleaded for the mere inclusion of the Glasgow Housing Association under the Act, saying his East Lothian constituents had a right to hold their landlord accountable.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected the plea, claiming that the Scottish Social Housing Charter would cover requests for information.