Part 1Access to information held by Scottish public authorities

Right to information

I13 Scottish public authorities

1

In this Act, “Scottish public authority” means—

a

any body which, any other person who, or the holder of any office which—

i

is listed in schedule 1; or

ii

is designated by order under section 5(1); or

b

a publicly-owned company, as defined by section 6.

2

For the purposes of this Act but subject to subsection (4), information is held by an authority if it is held—

a

by the authority otherwise than—

i

on behalf of another person; or

ii

in confidence, having been supplied by a Minister of the Crown or by a department of the Government of the United Kingdom; or

b

by a person other than the authority, on behalf of the authority.

3

Subsection (1)(a)(i) is subject to any qualification set out in schedule 1.

4

Information is not held by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland if it is contained in a record transferred to the Keeper by a public authority within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c.36) unless it is information—

a

to which subsections (2) to (5) of section 22 apply by virtue of subsection (6) of that section; or

b

designated by that authority as open information for the purposes of this subsection.

5

Where the public authority mentioned in subsection (4) is the Secretary of State for Scotland and the information is contained in a record transferred as is mentioned in subsection (6) of section 22 the reference in subsection (4)(b) to “that authority” is to be construed as a reference to the Scottish Ministers.