Freedom of Information
Introduction
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 24 April 2002 and came into force on 1 January 2005. It has introduced important new rights for you to access information held by public bodies such as OSCR. Anyone who requests information held by a Scottish public authority is now entitled to receive it, unless that information is subject to any exemptions contained in the Act.
OSCR and Freedom of Information
Following the take-up of full powers in April 2006 and a change to the status of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) within the Scottish Administration, OSCR is not recognised as a public body for the purposes of the Freedom Of Information Scotland Act (FOISA) 2002. However, we are committed to being open and transparent in our operations as Scottish Charity Regulator and we will deal with any Freedom of Information (FOI) request in the spirit of the legislation as far as is practical.
How to make a request for information
You must put your request in writing or any other form that can be kept for future use. You do not need to give any reasons for making your request or say that you are using your rights under FOISA. If there is not enough detail in your request for OSCR to identify the information you want, or if your request is not clear to us, we will ask you to give us more details.
Is there information I may not be able to see?
Although the Act gives you a general right to see all recorded information, in certain circumstances information can be kept from you because it is exempt from the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. However, if OSCR decides to withhold information you have requested, we must explain why we think the information is exempt.
Can I see information you hold about investigations into Scottish charities?
The effective regulation of charities requires OSCR to make inquiries into the running of Scottish charities. While OSCR aims to be as open and transparent as possible in our operations, there are legitimate exemptions contained in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which enable information to be withheld.
- Witness statements provided to OSCR in confidence
- Correspondence to/from a charity during an ongoing investigation into that charity
- Correspondence to/from a complainer during an ongoing investigation
- Internal file notes, memos and reports relating to an ongoing investigation
Find out more
What if I am unhappy with OSCR’s response to my request?
Once you have made your request for information, we must provide it to you as soon as possible. If you are unhappy with our response you can ask OSCR to review it. If you require a review to be carried out please write to:
OSCR’s Freedom of Information Log
We keep a log of all requests for information made under FOISA. As an agency of the Scottish Government, we also have links to the Scottish Government website’s Freedom of Information page.
