Open Update: FOI news from the Scottish Information Commissioner |
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FOI news from the Scottish Information Commissioner |
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FOI awareness reaches all-time high Our latest survey has found that public awareness of freedom of information (FOI) in Scotland is at its highest ever level, with 93% of people reporting that they had heard of FOI. The survey also revealed strong support for the underlying principles of FOI, with 97% of people agreeing that it was important for the public to be able to access information from public bodies.
Strengthening rights
The research also found clear support for strengthening FOI rights, with 92% agreeing that the bodies covered by FOI should be regularly reviewed, while 87% felt that private bodies delivering public services should be subject to the same access to information rights as equivalent public bodies.
Building confidence
The findings highlight a need to do more to build public confidence in using FOI. While awareness is high, 86% of people said they had never made an FOI request, while 43% were not confident they would receive a response to an information request to a public body. 79% of respondents also felt that more should be done to tell people about their FOI rights.
Enabling access
There was, however, evidence of a strong belief that FOI should be accessible and affordable, with 86% agreeing that there should be no upfront fee when making requests, while 90% said they would be more likely to trust an organisation that publishes a lot of information about its work. There was also support for the Commissioner’s work to improve public authority FOI performance, with 88% of respondents agreeing that the Commissioner should have the resources to intervene to help poorly performing bodies.
Want to know more? Click below to read our full report on the findings... |
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Revised Code aims to support FOI best practice The Scottish Government has published a revised and updated version of the Section 60 Code – the code which sets out good practice for public bodies when discharging their functions under Scotland’s FOI laws.
The newly-updated code has been developed in consultation with the Commissioner, with many of the updates informed by the examples of good practice we regularly encounter in our work. We anticipate that the updated code will be an essential, practical and informative resource for public authorities as they continue to meet their responsibilities under FOI law.
Key updates include: - Greater emphasis on the duty to publish information and advise and assist requesters, alongside the duty to respond to requests
- Guidance on the use of non-corporate platforms and other developments in information technology
- Additional guidance on the handling of requests about services provided by outsourcing partners
- Updated guidance on seeking clarification
The code is an essential tool to the Commissioner in assessing and supporting public authority compliance with their FOI duties, so we strongly recommend that public authority staff familiarise themselves with this new content.
You can read the new Section 60 Code in full here. |
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Good practice celebrated as FOI Awards visits Scotland! In March, the eCase Conference and Awards marked its fifth year – and its first visit to Scotland!
Speakers from across the UK, including representatives from the Scottish Information Commissioner and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), along with FOI practitioners, campaigners and the media, came together in Edinburgh to offer valuable insights into best practice in freedom of information. It concluded with an awards ceremony celebrating the FOI community’s achievements over the past year.
We are particularly pleased to highlight two Scottish successes. Hannah MacKay of Crown Estate Scotland was recognised in the Rising Star category, while the Scottish Ambulance Service Board was highly commended in the Performer of the Year category, following an impressive 99.8% on-time response rate over the last year. This achievement comes in the wake of the Commissioner’s earlier intervention with the Board, during which staff worked hard to improve on-time performance. Their continued high performance demonstrates the lasting impact of that work and highlights how targeted interventions can support sustainable improvements in FOI practice across public authorities.
We hope to share practical experiences and learning from the award-winners with you over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more information… |
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What next for FOI reform? One impact for FOI following the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament on 8 April is that Katy Clark MSP’s Private Member’s Bill to reform FOI in Scotland has now fallen. This means that the Bill was effectively ‘timed out’, having not completed the legislative process during the parliamentary session.
It was a dramatic journey for the Bill over recent weeks, with the Parliament voting to progress the Reform Bill to Stage 2 on 17 February. This was despite both a lack of support from the Scottish Government, and a recommendation by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments (SPPA) Committee that, while it recognised the strong case for reform, the bill should not proceed in its current form.
So, what now? Well, the Private Member’s Bill can be reintroduced during the next parliamentary session, so we may well see this bill being considered by Parliament again before too long. And, while it did not favour the Bill in its current form, the SPPA Committee also set out that, should the Scottish Government not come forward with its own reform bill, a future version of the committee may consider taking the task on itself…
In the meantime, you can keep up to date by reading our summary of the provisions of the FOI Reform Bill. |
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FOI and social care – read our views The Scottish Government is consulting on whether FOI rights should be extended to private and third sector organisations delivering care services in Scotland. Currently, FOI applies to public bodies like local authorities and the NHS, but not to independent providers - meaning some people, such as families, carers and those receiving care, do not have the same legal right to access information about that care.
The consultation invited views on whether FOI coverage in the care sector should be expanded. The Commissioner responded with clear support for the extension of these rights, noting that the pandemic highlighted the importance of openness in care services, while also exposing how often the current framework has failed to deliver adequate transparency. Extending FOI coverage would help protect, safeguard, and strengthen the rights of some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society.
Our full response is available on our website. We await the outcome of the consultation and hope to see further progress once parliamentary business resumes. |
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Commissioner gives evidence to the Scottish Parliament On 26 February Commissioner David Hamilton and his staff gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee on his 2024-25 Annual Report.
A number of issues were discussed during the session, including the rise in FOI requests and appeals, the pressure this is placing on his small team, the value of interventions to improve performance and the impact of AI technologies on FOI request-handling.
You can view the session in full or read a transcript on the Scottish Parliament’s website. |
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Updates on court appeals The Commissioner is considering a number of complex FOI cases relating to the James Hamilton Inquiry, which examined whether former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon breached the Ministerial Code.
Some of these decisions are now before the Court of Session, including cases concerning the disclosure of written evidence and internal communications about earlier appeals. Alongside these appeals, the Commissioner has also taken the unusual step of initiating court action in response to failures by the Scottish Government to comply with the timescales set out in his decision notices.
In the latest court ruling, which found against the Commissioner’s decision that Scottish Government communications relating to its decision to appeal an FOI case to the court should be disclosed, the judges emphasised that where legal professional privilege is applied under the rarely used section 50(5), it can only be overridden by clear and compelling public interest reasons. In this instance, the court found that the Commissioner had not provided reasons strong enough to justify disclosure.
While the Court has issued its Opinion in this case, it has still to determine what should happen as a result. To follow these cases as they develop, visit our website where we share updates regularly. |
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Authorities must be ‘reasonable’ when interpreting information requests Authorities must ensure they interpret FOI and EIR requests carefully to ensure all relevant information is identified. In two recent cases, the Commissioner found that requests had been interpreted too narrowly, resulting in information within scope being overlooked.
In Decision 022/2026, an authority failed to consider existing guidance and other recorded information underpinning its decision-making, while, in Decision 023/2026, it focused only on limited correspondence, rather than all information held, sent or received.
In both cases, we required further searches and reconsideration to be carried out. These decisions highlight the importance of taking a broad, reasonable view of requests at the outset to avoid incomplete responses - and unnecessary reviews and appeals. |
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Individuals must be identifiable for information to be ‘personal data’ FOI law allows information to be withheld if it is personal data, and its disclosure would breach data protection law. For information to qualify as ‘personal data’, however, a living individual (or individuals) must be identifiable from that information.
In Decision 038/2026, a local council was asked how many of its councillors and senior management team had unpaid council tax bills, along with details of the total value owed. The council withheld this information, arguing that disclosure would identify the individuals concerned.
We did not accept this position. We noted that the request has asked for details of the number of affected individuals and that, for the information to be personal data, individuals would have to be identifiable from this numerical data. In such circumstances, the Commissioner would expect public authorities to set out a clear and causal link between the disclosure of the data and the likelihood of identification. On the basis of the submissions received in this case, we considered it unlikely that individuals could be identified and that the information was not, consequently, personal data. We therefore required disclosure.
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8 May 2026 - Closure of collection of FOI Statistics for Quarter 4 Public authorities should ensure all submissions of FOI statistics have been made by this date for the period of 1 January to 31 March 2026. |
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21 May 2026 - To have and to hold: Meetings, messages and FOI – eCase Webinar eCase is hosting a free webinar for public authority staff, bringing together speakers from the Scottish Information Commissioner, the UK ICO and others, to explore the governance steps involved in managing information held on ‘informal’ communication tools. |
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8 June 2026 – Scottish Public Information Forum A hybrid meeting held online and in Edinburgh with reports delivered by the Commissioner, the UK ICO, Scottish Government and the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (CFoIS). For more information visit the CFoIS website. |
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15 June – World Cup bank holiday Public authority staff should ensure any responses due on this extra public holiday have been responded to before enjoying the long weekend. Make sure 4 & 25 May are also added to your calendars as the standard public holiday. |
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