Mr. Gavin Sheridan:

I will return to what I said at the outset. Proactive publication and good record management are good for everybody, not least from a public relations perspective. If the Government published all of its spending data on a quarterly basis, journalists would not get that many scoops because all of the information would already be in the public domain. If such information was published routinely, the journalists would not have to send in as many freedom of information requests. On the question of the future of the legislation, I suggest that we have an opportunity to provide for a much more fundamental reform of the Act. It is a little unfortunate that it seems this opportunity might be about to be missed to some degree. We need to examine international best practice and consider what has been learned in other jurisdictions. If we study our closest neighbours, we can see how Scotland and the rest of the UK are adjusting, not just in terms of what the legislation does but also in terms of its implementation, which is extremely important because it leads to a better right of access for the public. The involvement of the media is tangential. As we move on, there will be a greater overlap between a person asking a body for information and that body making its own decision to publish that information. I think we should have both. The Government should have an open data policy whereby large volumes of data on things like spending are put into the public domain. At the same time, if something is contentious, I should have the ability to ask for information on it and, if it is refused, go through the appeals process at a minimum cost. In such circumstances, a neutral third party like the Information Commissioner should make a ruling on the matter.