Opening new doors thanks to the public's right to know

"We need to get to a position where it's part of the core function as much as good governance is, demonstrating you're using your money well, that you're being a good employer," he says. "Whether you're doing engineering or policing, that doesn't mean you cut corners in health and safety, personnel, good governance and proper maintenance of your buildings. These are the functions of being a public authority, and freedom of information should be part of that function and factored into it."

Beyond the high-profile cases in the headlines, there is now academic evidence the act is having an effect on public sector culture. More than two-thirds of organisations believe it has had a significant change of culture and fewer than one in 10 see little difference. Nearly half say it has made them more open and they are more likely, he says, to treat information requests as a normal part of their role, rather than treating them "like an unexploded grenade".

"What we've seen is that most authorities are saying the act has been beneficial," says Mr Dunion. "The benefits of good records management are being felt internally as much as externally."

There is still plenty of potential for pushing the government door further open and, after serving one term of five years, Mr Dunion publishes his annual report today having been confirmed last month for his second and final term - this time lasting four years.

During the third year of the act's operation, he rates his most significant rulings as forcing the publication of a massive contract between NHS Lothian and the private consortium that built and runs Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Of more significance, he says, was responding to Alan Keith, of the Association of Dumfries and Galloway Accommodation Providers. Mr Keith asked to see the contract between VisitScotland and the company providing its online booking service.

The claim that this was commercially confidential was closely examined by the Information Commissioner and found want-ing. He ruled the contract was part of a process of negotiation and he struck a significant blow against others who think they can avoid open government with such a private sector confidentiality clause.

Likewise, the Scottish Government's claim that "advice to ministers" is always exempt has come under pressure. Historic Scotland's recommendation on a listed building order was forced into the open and after ministers gave up considerable information written by officials about their role in the controversial Aviemore Highland Resort planning application, Mr Dunion is keen to see if it sets a precedent for civil service advice to be prised further open for public scrutiny.

The past year has seen his staff catch up with a backlog from the appeals they have received over the past three years, and now is the time to expand his role.

Mr Dunion wants to ensure more people are aware of their information rights, particularly those who are less likely to know about them, such as immigrants and refugees. He is surprised the health and education sectors do not see more requests.

It is possible education authorities, colleges and universities are facing many requests for information and handling them without any need for appeals to reach the attention of the commissioner, but it is not thought likely and Mr Dunion reckons there must be students who want to know more about the marking regime for their exams, or perhaps recruitment. What about accident and emergency closure plans? If you catch MRSA in hospital, he points out, why not ask about the cleaning regime and how many others from that hospital have caught the same infection.

You won't get far asking that of a private firm running an NHS hospital, and Kevin Dunion's programme looking ahead is to press for change on that. Public-Private Partnerships do not come under the act. Likewise, most trusts and companies set up by councils to run leisure and culture facilities. Glasgow's high-profile transfer of its museums, galleries and sports museums, however, was deliberately constructed to remain within the act.

Mr Dunion wants to see the act revised and these groups brought within it as well as public bodies set up since the act was passed. His fellow commissioners for charities and roadworks, for instance, are not included. It would be surprising if the SNP administration refused, as it doesn't much like PPP contracts.

Nicola Sturgeon in opposition was one of the first to seek the backing of the commissioner to open up the private company contract for running Kilmarnock Prison. SNP ministers will be particularly keen to act after the announcement from Downing Street last autumn that it intended to do so. This is not an issue on which St Andrew's House will want to be lagging behind.

The Scottish and UK regimes are finding common interest in a particularly significant Freedom of Information case which reaches the House of Lords at the start of next month. Kevin Dunion has pursued the case of a Green Party researcher who asked for information on leukaemia clusters around Chapelcross nuclear power plant in Dumfriesshire. This has been denied on the grounds individuals could be identified from the data and they are protected under the Data Protection Act.

This is the first time either the UK or Scottish Freedom of Information Act has reached the House of Lords, and the prospect has public law experts salivating.

How people power is now winning the day Bill Hughes represents fishermen from the East Neuk in Fife who reckoned they had lost income through the leak of 120 million litres of untreated sewage into the Firth of Forth last April.

He asked Scottish Water for a copy of its report into the spill and was refused. He took his case to the Information Commissioner in November. Then in February, after the sub-contracting company responsible for the leak was fined in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, the papers were released by Scottish Water.

Mr Hughes continues to fight for Pittenweem fishermen to receive compensation for loss of income they claim resulted from the spill and believes the Freedom of Information Act has been vital.

Another example of information prised out of officialdom over the past year include an Aberdeen professor who battled with Transport Scotland for information on its choice of route for the city's western peripheral route. The government agency was entitled to withhold the information, but Kevin Dunion ruled it was in the public interest to override that entitlement.

Edmund Raphael-Beldowski is an author researching a book. He asked Tayside Police for information on the investigation of a murder from 1912. The police said, even after 95 years, investigations could be prejudiced by the release of such information and witnesses might be inhibited from co-operating.

In around 40 previous cases such as that, the commissioner sided with the police, but not this time. He judged the case did not look likely to be reopened, so Mr Raphael- Beldowski is now using the police file for his book.

FoI Act in action Dundee Council had 12 rulings by the commissioner to release information over the past three years. Glasgow had four, Borders three and 10 councils had two each. The Scottish Executive/Government faced 267 appeals to the commissioner since 2005, and was forced to release information in 11 cases. The Scottish Parliament faced 26 appeals and lost only one. Of 170 appeals for information to be released by police forces, 130 were valid, but only seven won the commissioner's support. Health boards faced 101 appeals for information, of which 60 were valid and only two were successful - both in Lothian. Academic research found last year that 74% of public bodies think the Freedom of Information Act has improved their record-keeping, and 49% think it has made them more open. Asked if they had heard of the act, 62% of the public polled were sure they had and 21% definitely had not. Administration and finance were the subject of 17% of FoI appeals last year with 10% about safety and crime. It cost £1.42m to run the commissioner's office last year.