Scottish procurement policy handbook

13 Freedom of Information and Data Protection Act

In relation to public procurement, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides a general right of access to information about all public contracts and procurement activity held by contracting authorities, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. It also imposes a duty on contracting authorities to adopt and maintain a scheme for the publication of information. Organisations must comply with the provisions of the 2002 Act when responding to requests for information about public sector procurement. SPD has produced guidance on responding to such requests:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1265/0006892.pdf

Annex A of the guidance provides examples of the main classes of procurement information that contracting authorities may be asked to disclose.

The above guidance also provides advice on responding to an individual's request under the Data Protection Act for information held about that individual.

Organisations should bring any complex issues relating to requests under the Freedom of Information Act or Data Protection Act to the attention of SPD. This will allow SPD to determine if wider dissemination across the procurement community is appropriate.