Code of conduct or secrecy charter?

DOUG COLLIE on yet another measure to keep sensitive local government information from public view

In a land where members of the public have been regularly frustrated in their attempts to prise potentially embarrassing material from the 'top secret' files held by their local council, it was often a tip off to a trusted and reliable journalist by a 'friendly' councillor which managed to tear the odd veil of secrecy to shreds.

But now any elected member of Scotland's 32 local authorities who might be thinking of passing a confidential document to his local paper or contemplating an off-the-record chat with her local radio station might think twice before spilling the beans.

A revised Code of Conduct for Scottish councillors warns that they must respect the confidentiality of any information classified as private which might be given to them during the course of their work.

This rejigged secrecy clause in the code almost certainly means that any snippet of information deemed to be confidential by a local government officer or a fellow member must not be passed on to anyone.

Any individual 'leaking' this private stuff and thereby breaching the code could face a five year ban from public life if caught and 'convicted'. Other sanctions include periods of suspension from council duties.

Here's what sections 3.16 and 3.17 of the newly issued code says about maintaining a wall of silence:

"Confidentiality Requirements 3.16 Council proceedings and printed material are generally open to the public. This should be the basis on which you normally work but there may be times when you will be required to treat discussions, documents or other information relating to or held by the Council in a confidential manner, in which case you must observe such requirements for confidentiality.

"3.17 You will often receive information of a private nature which is not yet public or which perhaps would not be intended to be public. You must always respect and comply with the requirement to keep such information private, including information deemed to be confidential by statute. Legislation gives you certain rights to obtain information not otherwise available to the public and you are entitled to exercise these rights where the information is necessary to carry out Council duties. 

"Such information is, however, for your use as a councillor and must not be disclosed or in any way used for personal or party political advantage or in such a way as to discredit the Council. This will also apply in instances where you hold the personal view that such information should be publicly available."

It would seem from this catch all regulation that there will be little point in locally based journalists inviting councillors out for a pint or a bite of lunch in hopes of a story. And, of course, the reporters' expenses claims will be diminshed too.

One former councillor told us: "I know from experience that far too much information and far too many reports are kept under wraps while far too many meetings take place in private.

"This new code will only make matters worse, and it is to be hoped efforts will be made to ensure knowledge of interest to council taxpayers isn't stifled even if it shows a council in a bad light. As it stands these clauses in the code amount to a virtual gagging order".

Freedom of Information has helped to lift the lid on a number of topics which councils would rather have kept as skeletons in their cupboards. But far too often documents have been censored to protect the identity of those public servants guilty of costly cock-ups.

The last thing the local government service requires is yet another weapon to protect it from public scrutiny. But will there be "code breakers" out there willing to take a chance?