Introduction
Freedom of Information came into force throughout the UK on 1 January 2005. Because of devolution arrangements, some organisations based in Scotland will continue to be subject to the UK access regime rather than the Scottish regime. The Scotland Office operates under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. For information on the application of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 please see the websites of the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Information Commissioner.
The Freedom Of Information Act 2000 creates a general right of access to information held by public authorities. Any person making a request is entitled (subject to the exceptions and exemptions set out in the Act):
- To be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds the information described in the request; and
- If that is the case, to have that information communicated to him/her.
Information released by the Scotland Office in response to individual requests under the Act and considered to be in the wider public interest will be published on this website.