Request information

Your right to request information

Different response timescales apply if you are making an enquiry of Scottish Ministers, a request for your personal information, a complaint or requests under Freedom of Information or Environmental legislation.   

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act gives you the right to access information held by us.

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) give you a similar right to ask us for environmental information. You do not have to mention this legislation in your request.

Anyone can request information – there are no restrictions on your age, nationality or where you live.

In processing your request, we are complying with a statutory Freedom of Information obligation. In order to do so, we need your full name and a contact address (postal or email address). We will process this personal data in accordance with Scottish Government's standards.

How to request information

We may have already published what you want so check previous responses to FOI requests where we have released information.

You should also check the information that we routinely publish and our guide to information

To request information you can:

• email contactus@gov.scot
• write to:
  General Enquiries Scottish Government
  St. Andrew's House
  Regent Road
  Edinburgh
  EH1 3DG
• you can also contact our Central Enquiries Unit on 0300 244 4000 who will be happy to take a record of your request by telephone and ensure it is taken forward

Your request must include:

• your full name
• a contact address - this can be a postal or email address
• a description of the information you want

If possible, please provide a daytime telephone number so we can contact you if we have any questions about your request.

You can ask for information in a particular format, such as paper or electronic copies.

You can find out more about your right to access information at the Scottish Information Commissioner website.

Costs

We don't charge for answering information requests.

When you'll get a response

You should receive a response from us promptly and within 20 working days.

If we can't give you the information

Our aim is to provide information whenever possible. If we don't hold the information or we believe there is a good reason to withhold it, we will explain why in our response.

We may also refuse your request if it will cost us more than £600 to find and provide the information.

If you are unhappy with our decision or how we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review this.

If you are still not happy you can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Publication of information

We are committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses.

Performance reporting

You can find out more about our performance and response times for handling Freedom of Information requests in our Freedom of Information (FOI) Reporting section.

Requests for personal data

Find out about your rights, including how to access personal data