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Access to Information Rights in Scotland Consultation

The Scottish Government has recently launched a public consultation on Access to Information Rights in Scotland, and suppliers are invited to give their views!

The consultation follows from the work on post-legislative scrutiny of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, carried out in the last session of the Scottish Parliament.

Access to information rights are of relevance to everyone in Scotland, since they determine the basis on which people can expect to access information about the work of government and public services. In the consultation, the Scottish Government wants to gather the views and experiences of individuals and organisations with experience of using Freedom of Information rights to obtain information whether for personal, community or professional reasons.

It also wants to gather the views and experiences of public authorities operating under the Act as well as those of their delivery partners who may have experience of assisting public authorities with the fulfilment of their obligations.

A key theme of the consultation is around the agility of the existing legislation to deliver access to information rights in the context of varied models of public service delivery. In recent years, much of the public discourse around the development of access to information rights has focussed on the accessibility of information held by the delivery partners of public authorities. The Scottish Government wants to understand better how those issues are being played out on the ground, and how they are seen by requesters of information, public authorities and by third and private sector delivery partners.

The consultation will remain open until Tuesday. 14 March 2023, and the Scottish Government strongly encourages all individuals and organisations with an interest in the operation of access to information rights in Scotland to respond.

Visit the Scottish Government website to respond to the Access to Information Rights in Scotland consultation.