Scottish Executive policy on wider
dissemination of information which is disclosed in
response to FOI requests
The Executive's policy is that where we release
information in response to a FOI request we recognise that
it will usually be of interest to the wider public in
addition to the original applicant. Executive staff are,
therefore, advised to publish information which they have
released to an applicant as soon as possible via the
Scottish Executive website. The speed with which
information released can be made available on the website
will vary depending on its quantity and format. Information
may not therefore always be added to the website on the
same day that it is supplied to an applicant.
The Recently Released Information list does not note all
the new information being routinely published on the
Executive's website. We believe that generally it is most
helpful to put information on the part of the website that
deals with the relevant subject matter, on the grounds that
most people will be looking for information on a particular
topic rather than going specifically through the disclosure
log. The Recently Released Information log simply provides
an additional index into aspects of Executive information
which have been the focus of specific FOI requests. It
provides access to the information released in response to
FOI requests which have been notified to the central FOI
Unit in accordance with staff guidance and where it has
been deemed by the policy area and the FOI Unit to be of
wider public interest.
Information relating to very specific, individually
focussed issues might not warrant wider publication as
without understanding the context of the information it
would not necessarily be very useful to anyone other than
the applicant. However, as previously stated, in practice
we regard most information released as being of wider
public interest and endeavour to get it published on the
website.