Number of FOI requests that have been denied by the Scottish Government: FOI release

Information requested

How many FOI requests have been denied by the Scottish Government since the 12th May 2021 – 11 July 2023?

Response

For the purposes of responding to this request we have interpreted that the term ‘FOI request’ refers to both requests and reviews that have been responded to under FOI(S)A and requests and reviews that have been responded to under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRS). We have also interpreted the request to mean Requests that were valid and refused in their entirety on exemption grounds and have not included requests that were invalid for such reasons as having no name provided/fake name/ contactable information.

The answer to your question has been split between FOI(S)A and EIR. The FOI(S)A legislation and EIR regulations do not allow public authorities to ‘deny’ an FOI or EIR request but rather refuse under certain exemptions, some of which are subject to the public interest test.

• FOI Requests: 1633
• FOI Reviews: 29
• EIR Requests: 226
• EIR Reviews: 4

Annex A lists the legislation of the FOI exemptions and EIR exceptions used along with details of the reasons for a request being deemed invalid.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300365989 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

7 page PDF

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158.1 kB