What is Freedom of Information?
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What is freedom of information?
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament
on 24 April 2002, and received Royal Assent in May 2002. The Act came
fully into force on 1st January 2005. The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing the Act.
The JISC legal web briefing provides a very useful overview of the Act.
The main strands of the Act
There are three main strands to the Act:
1. Individual requests
The Act entitles anyone from anywhere in the world to request access to any
information held by "Scottish public authorities" as defined by the
Act. (For the purposes of the Act, the University of Edinburgh is a
"Scottish public authority"). A request does not need to mention the
Scottish Freedom of Information Act. Public authorities must provide the requested information within 20 working days, or to issue a
statement explaining why the request cannot be met. There are
exemptions for some material but most of the exemption categories are very
narrow and many are subject to the public interest test.
2. Publication scheme
The Act requires public authorities to publish some information proactively;
this is called a publication scheme. The publication scheme includes information
whose release is in the interest of the public, particularly information about services and decision making.
More information about the University's publication scheme is available on the
publication scheme page.
3. Records management
The Act required the Scottish Ministers to issue a code of practice providing
guidance on records management, known as the Section 61 code of practice. The National Archives of Scotland produced a
Model Action Plan to assist public authorities in implementing the code of
practice, and the Universities Scotland have produced a Model Action Plan for
Higher Education Institutions.
Records management allows an organisation to know what information it has, where
it is kept and how long to keep it. Proper records management has obvious
benefits for organisations that are subject to freedom of information requests.
More information about records management at the University is available on the
records management page.
Freedom of information
in Scotland and the rest of the UK
Two different freedom of information acts came
into force on 1 January 2005. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002, with which the University is concerned, and the UK Freedom of Information
Act 2000, which applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act applies to Scottish
public authorities. UK public authorities that operate in Scotland will
follow the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the UK Act), for example the Council
for Science and Technology, the British Waterways Board and the Equal
Opportunities Commission. But in all other respects the UK Act does not
apply to Scotland. The two Freedom of Information Acts can be viewed by
following these links:
Whilst the two Acts are broadly similar in many respects some of
the provisions of the Scottish Act are more rigorous. Some of the main
differences between the two regimes are:
-
The Scottish Act provides a straightforward right of access
to information held, whereas the UK Act provides a right to be told whether
or not information is held and to be provided with that information.
-
The tests for exempt material are different.
-
The Scottish Act requires public authorities claiming an
exemption to exercise the public-interest test, where applicable, within
the 20 working day response period. The UK Act does not give a
time limit.
-
The harm test in the Scottish Act requires that
disclosure would "substantially prejudice" the effective
conduct of public affairs / the commercial interests of an individual /
etc. The UK Act stipulates only "prejudice".
-
Both Acts allow public authorities to recoup a proportion of
the costs involved in providing information to individual requests (10% of
search costs). However, in Scotland the first £100 is waived.
- The publication scheme requirements are different.
-
The Scottish Act requires public authorities to take
into account the public interest in information relating to:
-
the provision of services, including the cost of
provision and the standards of those services;
-
major decisions made by the public authority,
including facts and analyses on which the decisions are based.
-
The UK Act only requires public authorities to have
regard for the public interest in allowing public access to the
information held by the authority and in the reasons for major decisions
made by the authority.
-
The UK Act allows information which is due to be
published at some future date to be withheld until its publication
(where it is reasonable to do so). The Scottish Act limits the
withholding of information that is to be published to a maximum of 12
weeks, unless the information relates to a programme of research.
-
The UK Act is policed by the UK Information Commissioner,
the Scottish Act is policed by the Scottish Information Commissioner (the UK
Information Commissioner also polices the Data Protection Act, data
protection legislation is not devolved).
The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner have
produced a table comparing the Scottish and UK freedom of information legislation, which is
available at the link below.
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations
Complementing the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 are the
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. They give the
public rights to see information related to the environment held by Scottish
public authorities. For further information please see the briefing on the Environmental Information
Regulations.
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336
