Total number of Freedom of Information request made by journalist: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of Freedom of Information requests sent to the Scottish Government by journalist and author James McAneny in the period 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.

2. Please give a rough breakdown of requests by subject matter.

3. Please give a breakdown of how many were appealed and reviewed internally and externally, with a breakdown of the verdicts of the appeals.

Response

1. Mr McEnaney submitted 40 Freedom of Information requests to the Scottish Government in the period 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.

2. Please see a breakdown of the requests in the table below:

Subject of request	Number of requests
Face masks in schools	4
School absences	4
Contact tracing in schools	3
Exam results	3
Rural & Island housing fund	3
Exams cancellation 2020	3
Qualification/attainment by SIMD	2
Additional payment for teachers & lecturers	2
Communication between Scottish Government & SQA	2
Laptops for online learning	2
Exam diet 2021	2
Impact of school closures on children/ balance of harms	2
Impact of periods in school	1
Older children & covid-19	1
Senior pupils returning to school	1
Advanced Highers in 2021	1
Teacher data	1
DFM meeting with Reform Scotland	1
Use of OneNote in Scottish Government	1
Correspondence relating to a previous FOI request	1

3. Two of the requests were reviewed internally. One was a review of a failure to respond, the other confirmed the original decision. Appeals to the Scottish Information Commissioner may only be made after an internal review has been carried out. Neither of these two reviews went to appeal.

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.