Efforts to make Scottish bodies deemed at ‘arms-length’ from public authorities subject to the Freedom of Information Act have been withdrawn from new legislation. 

The Scotsman report:

AN EFFORT to force councils to open up arms-length bodies and large contractors to public 
scrutiny has been withdrawn from new freedom of information legislation.

Councils have the power to remove services from public scrutiny under the Freedom Of Information Act by designating them as “arms length external organisations” (Aleos).

Audit Scotland recently found 130 Aleos in Scotland, with more being set up.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.