Environmental information the weak link, FOI annual report suggests

Low levels of awareness of environmental information law are a concern for Scotland's Information Commissioner in her annual report for 2014-15, published today.

Rosemary Agnew's call on public bodies to respond properly to requests for environmental information follows the disclosure that the proportion of appeals she received on environmental issues has risen to the highest ever level, up to 14% of total appeals, from 8% five years ago.

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (EIRs) give the public similar rights to environmental information as the general freedom of information (FOI) law, but under the EIRs these rights are stronger and cover more organisations.

The report reveals that last year, Scottish public authorities reported receiving 66,753 information requests, 7,196 of which they responded to under the EIRs. While the proportion of requests appealed to the Commissioner was just 0.7% overall, requests handled under the EIRs are more likely to be appealed, reflecting both the appetite for environmental information and an apparent issue over levels of awareness.

Appeals received over failures to respond to information requests, an issue that led to Ms Agnew publishing a special report in August 2014, fell by half as a proportion of appeals received during the second half of the year, from 32% of the appeals made between April and September 2014 to 16% between October 2014 and March 2015.

Other highlights from the report include:

• Public awareness of FOI is at its highest ever level, at 84%, up from 78% in September 2013;
• 94% of the public think that FOI is important in holding public bodies to account;
• the Commissioner received 474 appeals in 2014-15, of which 65 related to environmental information requests, and found wholly or partially in favour of requesters in 64% of her decisions;
• the average age of cases closed by the Commissioner, 3.18 months, was the lowest in 10 years of FOI;
• 59% of appeals were made by members of the public, 14% by the media, and 8% by prisoners;
• 75% of information requests to public bodies resulted in some or all of the requested information being provided.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Ms Agnew said: "There is an increasing appetite for information on a range of environmental issues which are having greater and greater effect on our daily lives. Whether it is about pandas or potholes, windfarms or fish farms, flooding or fracking, the public is seeking information about how decisions that affect them are made, funded and implemented. If the public is to engage effectively in these matters, then they must be properly informed.

"Information requests must be responded to under the right law. Our experience suggests levels of awareness of the EIRs in authorities is lower than awareness of FOI law. Why does all this matter? Well, information that might be withheld under FOI may be disclosable under the EIRs which contain fewer circumstances where information can be withheld, and, significantly, all decisions taken to withhold information under the EIRs are subject to a public interest test. If authorities are failing to use the correct legislation they may be inadvertently denying requesters access to information they have a right to see."

She added: "I am pleased that our work to address public authority failures to respond is bearing fruit. People ask for information because they need it, and if authorities ignore those requests or delay their responses, it can only damage public trust. By working to improve their performance, public bodies can help build better relations with the communities they serve."