The Scottish Information Commissioner, Rosemary Agnew, launched
her Annual Report on 1 October 2013. Speaking at the launch
she expressed concern over an increasing failure on the part of
Scottish public authorities to respond to freedom of information
requests on time. Rosemary Agnew noted that when Scottish
public authorities do not respond to FOI requests within the time
limit they harm relationships with communities and create
unnecessary work for themselves.
In broad terms the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
allows individuals to request and receive information which is held
by or on behalf of Scottish public authorities. A response to
a request for information must be made within 20 working
days. Information may be withheld in certain
circumstances.
