Scotland reveals high costs of FOI

The first survey of the Scottish Government's FOI work since 2007 also shows that the average staff time taken to respond to a request was seven hours and 22 minutes. The average staff cost of responding to a review was £292 and the average staff time taken was eight hours and 35 minutes, according to the survey. The cost and time involved in appeals was significantly higher. The average staff cost was £720 and the average staff time taken was 21 hours 25 minutes. Scotland's minister for parliamentary business Bruce Crawford said: "The publication of today's survey helps provide a clearer picture of the real cost of FOI, and helps our understanding of the associated financial challenges while we aim to improve transparency across Scotland's public sector. "By including the cost of reviews and appeals for the first time, this survey has provided us with the most detailed analysis yet into the time and cost associated with FOI requests processed by Scottish Government staff."