Requesting a Review

Q. What happens after I’ve made a request?

A. The public authority should reply to your request for information as soon as possible and in most cases must reply within 20 working days.

Q. When may I have to wait more than 20 working days?

A. Information that is no longer in regular use from the Scottish Executive may have been transferred to the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. If this is the case, you may have to wait up to 30 working days for a reply.
For most information requests the 20 working day time limit will apply.

Q. What kind of reply can I expect?

A.  After 20 working days you will normally have received one of the following:

• All the information you asked for, in most cases free of charge.
• A fees notice, if there is a charge for the information 
• A refusal
• No response, which you should treat as a refusal
• Some of the information
  

Q. Why may my request be refused?

A. The public authority is allowed to refuse your request if:

• The information is exempt from the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
• The authority does not have the information. If the authority does not have the information you ask for, it should tell you so promptly by sending you a notice. If it is aware that another authority has it, it should consider the best way to help you, perhaps by giving you contact details of the other authority. In this case, it should first confirm that the other authority has the information so that there is no unreasonable delay in responding to your request.
• You have not provided enough detail for the authority to identify and find the information.  The authority may ask you for more information, the maximum 20 working day response time starts when it receives that additional information from you. 
• It will cost the authority more than £600 to provide the information.  The authority must tell you what information it could provide within the cost limit of £600.
• The authority believes your request is “vexatious”.
  Vexatious requests are those that are clearly intended to disrupt the authority’s work, rather than genuine requests for information. It might also apply if you have already made the same request and had it rejected on appeal to the Commissioner, or if you have unreasonably failed to give the authority enough detail to identify the information you want. However, a public authority cannot decide that your request is vexatious simply because it finds you or your request irritating or a nuisance.
• Your request is "repeated".
  A “repeated request” is when you have asked for information which has already been provided to you or for information which the authority has already refused to give you, and a reasonable period of time has not passed between your requests.
• Your request is for the same information asked for by others, or it appears that the requests are part of an organised campaign, or it will cost the authority more than £600 to supply the information to all those asking for it.  If the authority refuses your request for these reasons, it should consider publishing the information and making it available to the public through its publication scheme, or on its website, or both. If it decides to publish the information the authority must do so within 20 working days.
• You have asked for the information to be given to you in a format which the authority cannot reasonably provide. However, if you have a disability the authority must provide it in the format you prefer, except in exceptional and extreme circumstances.
  

Q. Will the authority make me aware if it is refusing my request for information?

A.  If the authority decides to refuse your request or part of your request for any of the above reasons they must reply to you.  Their reply must:

• be made in writing within 20 working days of receiving your request (remember to allow postage time)
• state clearly the reasons for the refusal (including any legal reasons)
• tell you how to appeal against this decision

You may be unhappy with the authority’s decision or response to your request for one or more of the following reasons:

• refusing to give you the information
• failing to reply to you within the time limit allowed
• claiming the information is exempt
• failing to give you advice about, and help with, making your request
• asking you to pay a fee that you feel is unreasonable

Q. What should I do if I am unhappy with the authority’s decision?

A.  If you are unhappy with the decision you should ask for the review no later than 40 working days after:

• the end of the period for responding to your request (if the authority did not reply to your request), or
• the date the authority responded, or
• the date the authority sent you a fees notice, or
• the date the authority sent you a refusal notice or a notice saying that it does not have the information

Q. How should I make a request for a review?

A.  You should request for a review in writing or in any other form that can be kept for future use, e.g., e-mail or a recording on audio or video tape. 

Give your name, an address for correspondence, details of your original request, and say why you want a review.

Most authorities will provide details of how to request a review when they respond to your request.

If you have been given contact details for a review you should write to this person.

Q. What kind of reply should I expect to my request for a review?

A. After 20 working days you should have received one of the following: 

• all the information you asked for, in most cases free of charge;
• some of the information, with an explanation as to why the rest of the information has not been provided;
• a notice from the authority confirming that it has not changed its original decision;
• if the authority did not respond to the initial request, a notice on your request giving the authority's decision;
• a notice stating the authority does not have to review its decision because your request was 'vexatious' or very similar to one you have made before.

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