Linlithgow MSP calls on Scottish Parliament to withdraw web only public notice plans

Feb 4 2010 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

LINLITHGOW MSP Mary Mulligan has called on the Scottish Government to withdraw their controversial plans to ditch public notices from newspapers after suffering a defeat in a parliamentary debate.

The important debate on SNP plans to ditch public notices as well as public sector job advertising from newspapers was held last Thursday.

At present, councils and other public bodies are duty-bound to advertise public information in newspapers.

But the SNP’s Holyrood administration are proposing to change the law to allow this information to be published only online.

However, a Labour-led debate in the parliament called on the SNP to think again after the party started a campaign to keep the vital planningand road closure information inpapers.

And following the two-hour debate, MSPs voted by a margin of 76 to 48 in favour of Labour MSP Pauline McNeill’s motion calling on the Scottish Government to withdraw its draft proposals.

This will leave the Scottish Government now wondering whether to risk placing the proposal in front of Parliament for a formal vote.

Ms McNeill’s motion said the plans would “create a democratic deficitand damage the local and national newspaper industry at a criticaltime.”

Scotland Office ministers have already warned that the country’s 32 local authorities may be excluding up to 40 per cent of people by shifting the vast majority of their job adverts and public notices online, breaching their duty to reach the whole population. The latest figures from broadcasting regulators Ofcom show only 60 per cent of Scots have access to broadband, compared with 68 per cent across the wholeUK.

Mary Mulligan was delighted with the outcome of the debate and said the SNP should listen to parliament and withdraw their proposal.

The Labour politician said: “It’s been an issue brought to us from all over Scotland and we think it’s a bad idea.

“I think all politicians try to have a good relationship with their local papers and they are a vital source of information for people in the community.

“Not everyone in Scotland has access to the internet or is IT-literate so their proposal of just having a website will not be enough for everyone to get information on public notices.

“I know that more and more newspapers are working on developing their websites so in time it may come but now is not the time. There is a lot more work still to be done before we can get to that stage.

“The consultation is still ongoing and it will be up to the Scottish Government to respond to that but we just hope they listen to what was said in parliament. Obviously we are trying to get the message out that members of the public need to respond to the consultation and let their voices be heard. This could potentially disenfranchise a whole host of people in the population.

“I think the only people in favour of this are COSLA and they have taken a merely financial view on it. Whether they do make the savings they think they will is a moot point as they will still have to pay for the upkeep of a website.

“There’s a world of difference between reading a notice in a newspaper and having to hunt for an announcement or advert on the web. If the SNP are as committed to supporting the newspaper industry as they say they are, then they must abandon these damaging plans.”

Jim Raeburn, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, echoed the politician’s calls. He said: “The vote, with all four opposition parties supporting the Scottish newspaper industry, is a pleasing result. The Scottish Government should accept the Parliament has spoken and now withdraw its sham consultation about electronic publication of local authority public information notices as an alternative to newspapers.

“Given that market research carried out by Ofcom showed that nearly 10 times as many people in Scotland use newspapers than they do the internet as their main source of information about their local area, we believe that the Scottish Government’s proposal is flawed and will undoubtedly lead to greatly reduced scrutiny and therefore accountability for local government announcements and actions.”