Percentage of Freedom of Information requests that receive a late response: FOI release

Information requested

• For each month of the last 5 years, what percentage of FOI requests received by the Scottish Government receive a late response (based on timescales set out on FOISA).
• For each month of the last 5 years, the number of FOI requests received by the Scottish Government that receive a late response.

Response

For the purposes of responding to this request I have interpreted that the term ‘FoI requests’ refers both to requests and reviews responded to under FOISA and requests and reviews responded to under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRS).

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested below.

In the last year we have made a significant overhaul and refinement of our approach to recording and tracking FOI case data. As a result of this, our data is more accurate and we are attaching our most up to date figures.

Please note that any data released historically was reflective of what was held at that time. Any differences between historic release and the updated data provided in this request are a result of a combination of the above noted factors and our request system being dynamic, with historic figures updated to accurately reflect any cases since added.

2019	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Aug	17%	5	29
Sep	4%	3	77
Oct	3%	3	106
Nov	4%	5	133
Dec	5%	5	104

2020	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Jan	11%	9	84
Feb	6%	8	137
Mar	13%	43	325
Apr	23%	45	195
May	55%	33	60
Jun	21%	32	152
Jul	16%	72	451
Aug	18%	76	411
Sep	19%	68	352
Oct	20%	80	401
Nov	19%	91	477
Dec	18%	89	488

2021	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Jan	11%	9	84
Feb	6%	8	137
Mar	13%	43	325
Apr	23%	45	195
May	55%	33	60
Jun	21%	32	152
Jul	16%	72	451
Aug	18%	76	411
Sep	19%	68	352
Oct	20%	80	401
Nov	19%	91	477
Dec	18%	89	488

2022	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Jan	19%	108	580
Feb	19%	97	517
Mar	14%	72	516
Apr	24%	96	403
May	16%	55	340
Jun	25%	86	340
Jul	11%	43	378
Aug	16%	69	435
Sep	15%	59	393
Oct	19%	65	337
Nov	14%	55	395
Dec	17%	87	517

2023	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Jan	17%	62	368
Feb	28%	135	490
Mar	17%	90	526
Apr	16%	62	386
May	13%	53	394
Jun	4%	21	554
Jul	5%	22	436
Aug	6%	29	498
Sep	4%	14	352
Oct	3%	15	520
Nov	4%	20	448
Dec	2%	12	492

2024	Q1: Percentage	Q2: Number of late cases	Total Cases
Jan	4%	22	604
Feb	6%	33	596
Mar	3%	17	521
Apr	5%	22	487
May	2%	9	435
Jun	2%	11	458

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.