Scottish Government spend on defence against Scottish Information Commissioner: FOI release

Information requested

How much has the Scottish Government spent on defending itself against the Scottish Information Commissioner over the last five years, with a breakdown per year and what the money was spent on?

Response

We have previously answered a substantially similar request, submitted on 8 September 2025, from yourself 202500483660. Much of this new request is therefore a repeat. In answering this current FOI request, we have considered the new time period covered by the request: 8 September 2025 to 2 April 2026.

I enclose a copy this information you requested, please see attached Annex dated from 8th September 2025 to 2nd April 2026. We have interpreted your request for costs spent on 'defending itself against the Scottish Information Commissioner' to cover legal costs incurred in court proceedings. The table in annex A provides a breakdown of costs incurred. The amounts presented comprise court fees and counsel’s fees.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 14(2) of FOISA a public authority is not required to comply with a request for information if it is identical or substantially similar to a request which it has already complied with, unless a reasonable amount of time has elapsed between the two requests. This request is substantially similar to your previous request which we complied with on 30th September 2025. The Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on repeated requests at: https://www.foi.scot/sites/default/files/2023-07/BriefingSection14VexatiousorRepeatedRequests.pdf says that in considering whether a reasonable period of time has elapsed between the previous request and the new request, there are two questions which will help the authority:
(i) has the information changed?
(ii) have the circumstances changed?
In this case, the information we hold is the same as at the time of your previous request. We have also considered the circumstances and have concluded that there has been no significant change up until 7th September 2025. For these reasons, we consider that this time period part of your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it.

This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

Therefore, for costs before 8 September 2025 you should refer to the answer which was sent to you on 30 September 2025 in response to request 202500483660.

Annex A

Case Name	Costs between 08/09/25 02/04/26
Scottish Ministers v Scottish Information Commissioner & Benjamin Harrop (decision 065/2025)	£18,241.00
Scottish Ministers v Scottish Information Commissioner & Benjamin Harrop (decision 279/2025)	£5,020.00
Scottish Ministers v Scottish Information Commissioner & Andrew Learmonth (decision 315/2025)	£916.00
Scottish Information Commissioner v Scottish Ministers - petition for certification / contempt of court - decision 281/2025	£1,226.00
Total	£25,403.00

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.