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Last updated 16 December 2021

Like many other Scottish public authorities, the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner has been impacted by the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.

Though our office premises are temporarily closed in line with government guidance, most of our services are still available. So whether you're looking to make an appeal, request information or query about your FOI rights, or if you work for an authority and require advice, here's how we can help you:

Appeals (applications)

If you have made a request for information and are dissatisfied with the authority's response or the way the request was handled, and you remain unhappy after requesting a review / a review being conducted, you can still make an appeal to the Commissioner. We are carrying out investigation work on appeals during the pandemic using secure remote systems.

We recommend you make an appeal using our application form, which will help to make you submit all of the information needed for us to investigate. (Please note: our online appeal portal has been closed as a result of technical issues, and while we are still able to receive appeals by post, they may take longer to process as our office premises are temporarily closed.)

If you have a query about an existing appeal to the Commissioner, you can search our list of current applications, which tells you what stage your case it at. Alternatively, email enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info, clearly stating your surname and reference number, and we will respond as soon as we can.

We continue to publish our decisions on appeal investigations around a week after the decision has been issued on the Scottish Information Commissioner's decisions database.

Requesting information

If you would like to make a request for information from the Scottish Information Commissioner, or make a subject access request to the Commissioner for your own personal data, please email enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info. Please note that while our office premises are temporarily closed, access to some records held in hard-copy is limited, but we will strive to respond as promptly and as fully as possible.

Before submitting an information request, please take a look at the information we already publish on our website, including our Guide to Information, and a dedicated page for information about our activities during the pandemic.

You can find more information about your FOI rights in our Your Rights section, and also read our guidance on accessing information from authorities during the pandemic.

General enquiries

We are continuing to answer enquiries sent by email and post. However, we are currently not able to receive enquiries by phone. Enquiries should be sent by email to enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info.

There is a wide range of information on our website, so you may find the information you are looking for on our website on the following pages:

• FOI law, including the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA) and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (EIRs)
• Changes to FOI law made by the emergency legislation, the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and subsequent amendments
• Detail on FOI exemptions, fees, other key concepts, and differences between FOISA and EIRs, and between UK and Scottish FOI law
• Your rights to access information, including what organisations are covered, what information you could ask for, how to make a request and what to do next
• The role of the Commissioner and the work of his team
• Answers to a range of frequently asked questions

Support for public authorities

If you would like more information about the legislative changes affecting FOI during the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, please visit our Covid-19 and FOI information hub, where you’ll find a range of guidance including how the Commissioner will determine the effects of the coronavirus on an authority's ability to respond to requests, and answers to a number of frequently asked questions.

Quarterly statistics should be submitted via our statistics portal as normal. If you are unable to submit statistics for any reason, please contact us.

If you have an urgent query regarding your authority, please email enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info and we will respond as soon as we can.

Contact details

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Email: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info

Alternatively, you can contact us using our Contact Form.

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us via ContactSCOTLAND-BSL ***PLEASE NOTE*** This service is currently unavailable due to our temporary office closure. We hope to have the service reinstated as soon as possible.

Access to information from the Commissioner

If you are interested in our information, please visit our Guide to Information. If you are thinking about asking us for information, please read our guidance on making an information request to us. Please note that public holidays are not counted as working days in the time for responses. You can read more about this at Timescales for responding to information requests

How to find us (***please note that our office is currently closed***)

Our office is:

• 2 minutes walk from St Andrews Bus Station
• 10 minutes drive, bus or taxi ride from Leuchars Train Station

Both bicycle and car parking facilities are available at our office or the nearby Argyle Street Car Park.

Directions to the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

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This page was last updated on 11 August 2021.

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