Access to Information - Scottish Government Consultation

Posted Thursday 9th February by Admin User

Scottish Government is currently consulting on possible amendments to Freedom of Information legislation.  Its Access to Information Rights in Scotland consultation closes on Tuesday 16 March and SFHA will be submitting a response.  

We will be seeking member views and bringing together a meeting in early March to discuss further.  We have also commissioned TC Young to provide legal input as we draft our response. 

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GovernanceInformation Governance
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The consultation paper explores several aspects of the FOI legislation, asking for views on: 

  • access to information when public services are outsourced (including to contractors); 
  • possible amendment to how further bodies become subject to FOI; 
  • amending the definition of "information";
  • replacing the SIC's publication scheme with a new Code of Practice on Publication; 
  • making FOI more consistent with some provisions in the Environmental Information Regulations; 
  • amending how the charge for excessive requests is calculated;  
  • changes to the appeals process regarding complaints about the SIC; and 
  • potentially removing the power of the first Minister to veto requests for information held by the Scottish Administration

If you would like to feed into the SFHA's response to the consultation, please contact Alan Stokes, Policy Lead astokes@sfha.co.uk

The full consultation paper is available on the Scottish Government website here:

Access to Information Consultation

Please note that this consultation is separate to a proposed members’ bill by Katy Clark MSP – which proposed far reaching changes to FOI (supported by the Campaign for FOI).  That consultation was originally scheduled to close on Thursday 2 February but has now been extended to 14 March 2023.  SFHA will only be responding to the Scottish Government consultation.