Income tax in the open
Does government need a 'private space' for policy formulation? Do public authorities need the ability to explore the pros and cons of different policy options in private before choosing between them?
It's accepted by many that there is some need for this, not least by the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. In (about House of Lords reform) he argues that the fact that a policy making process is 'live' may increase the public interest in disclosing information, but it also strengthens the countervailing case for secrecy. 
This issue is raised by yesterday's Politics Show on 91Èȱ¬1, which that the SNP government in Scotland is considering changes to its proposals for a local income tax.
The initial plans that there would be 'exemptions for savings and investment income'. However the Politics Show discovered that Scottish ministers are now considering including such income under the tax. This was thanks to a which discovered that the Scottish Government had been asking HM Revenue and Customs to help calculate how much money could be raised in this way.
Interviewed on the programme, Scotland's Finance Minister John Swinney confirmed that this option is indeed now under consideration. So in this case FOI has poked a hole in the secrecy covering the policy formulation process.
It's interesting to note that the information was released not by the Scottish Government itself, but by Revenue and Customs, for whom it is a much less sensitive issue.
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