THE number of Freedom of Information (FoI) appeals made because public authorities failed to respond to the applicant has fallen.
Figures released by the Scottish Information Commissioner show a drop in the total number of appeals made by people dissatisfied with the handling of their FoI request, from 594 in 2012/13 to 578 the following year.
It is the first time in five years the number of appeals has fallen.
The drop is attributed to a decrease in appeals made because an authority failed to respond to a request within the statutory 20-day time limit, from 27 per cent in 2012/13 to 24 per cent. Commissioner Rosemary Agnew said: "It is encouraging to see that the number of appeals being made because of a failure to respond has fallen.
"It was also good news to discover that failing to respond is not widespread, but acute in only a small proportion of Scottish public authorities.
"There is clearly more work to be done to bring the poorer performing organisations up to the same standard as those doing well.
Everyone who makes an FoI request in Scotland should be confident that they will get a response within 20 working days."
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