Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) citizen engagement platform queries: FOI release

Information requested

1. Do you currently use a citizen engagement platform?

2. If yes, which platform(s) or tools do you use?

3. What is your annual expenditure on this platform?

4. When does your current contract with the supplier end (month and year)?

Response

1. Do you currently use a citizen engagement platform?

Yes. As a Division within the Scottish Government’s Agriculture & Rural Economy Directorate, SASA uses Scottish Government platforms and tools to facilitate formal consultations and stakeholder engagement. These include Citizen Space and Microsoft Forms.

2. If yes, which platform(s) or tools do you use?

Across SASA branches, the following tools have been used:

• Microsoft Forms – used widely across branches for surveys and stakeholder feedback. No cost incurred as it is part of the Scottish Government’s Microsoft package.
• Citizen Space – used for formal consultations. Managed centrally by the Scottish Government.
• SmartSurvey – used once under a free trial (ended 29/04/2025).
• SurveyMonkey – previously used in 2023, no longer in use.
• Questback – currently replaced by MS Forms.
• Slido and Meetsched – used for stakeholder meetings; both are free tools.

Several branches reported no use of Citizen Engagement platforms.

3. What is your annual expenditure on this platform?

SASA does not hold this information. Costs associated with platforms such as Citizen Space are managed centrally by the Scottish Government. Tools like Microsoft Forms, Slido, and Meetsched are used at no direct cost to SASA.

4. When does your current contract with the supplier end (month and year)?

SASA does not hold contract information for Citizen Engagement platforms. These are managed centrally by the Scottish Government.

For further details, you may wish to refer to the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space consultations page: https://consult.gov.scot

About FOI

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