'Rostergate' FOI PR request rumbles on
The agency behind the Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Scottish Government has stepped forward.
Scott Douglas, founder of Holyrood Partnership in Edinburgh, has admitted in his online blog that he was the person to submit the FOI enquiry about the applications of the six successful agencies to make the Scottish Government’s PR roster.
Some of the roster agencies expressed their displeasure at the inquiry saying that it would mean that sensitive agency information such as pricing would be on display for public scrutiny.
The CIPR has also said it would consider action against any member agency found to have submitted the enquiry.
In his blog Douglas referred to the row as “Rostergate” and stated: “I can deliver an exclusive, by unmasking exactly who is posing such a threat to the very fabric of the Scottish PR industry…Because it is me.”
In his follow up blog Douglas revealed that, as a result of the request, he has found that 43 Scottish PR initially applied for the roster.
He then went onto compare the Scottish Government to ‘a menacing bouncer’ at the door of a nightclub before explaining that he believed the loss of competition for the roster’s public sector contracts to the rest of the industry “will ultimately demean PR in the eyes of anyone watching.”
“It's contrary to just about everything that's good about the free market and open and fair competition,” wrote Douglas.
“It will ensure that any increase in public spending - widely touted as the surest way to get the UK out of recession - will benfit only a fraction of the Scottish PR industry.”
He continued, “It rewards big agencies for throwing staff and resources at form filling - while penalising smaller agencies who have thrown staff at delivering excellent service and tangible results,” and “It will end relationship-based PR, by binning years of painstakingly-built rapport and hard-won trust - and parachuting in tick box practices in their place.”
His blog concluded, “Of course the root of the problem is simpler yet. The new roster system means there's no real choice at all.”
Meanwhile, The Drum has learned that FOI requests have also gone in for the research roster and the design roster.
While roster agencies have voiced their concern about the open publication of the ins and ours of their businesses, one successful agency insider told The Drum that they had ‘nothing to hide’ and that they did not believe it to be a bad thing.
“I do think it would be useful for guidelines to be drawn up about what does constitute 'commercially confidential' information and for these to be applied across the board to ensure a consistent approach is taken by public bodies when releasing info,” said the insider. “For example, I’ve seen personal information e.g. CVs or details of project teams being held back due to fears over releasing personal data under the Data Protection Act, where other requests we’ve made have resulted in full costing information and staff CVs.”
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