The outgoing Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion, who demits office in February, is submitting a special report to Parliament and will address the Justice Committee on his term of office after concluding that appeals against authorities are rising sharply, and finding that authorities have failed to deal with requests correctly.

Authorities covered by Freedom of Informaton legisaltion have circumvented the law by creating trusts and private contractors to provide public services, which are beyond the scope of the act.

Mr Dunion said the success of the FOI legislation risks being undermined.

"It is nearly ten years since Parliament was told that powers to designate additional bodies such as local authority trusts and private contractors would be used. Disappointingly, successive administrations have failed to make good on this despite opinion polls showing that the public is strongly in favour of such action," he said.

“The view that FOI is an intolerable regulatory burden on authorities turns the clock back 20 years and is not supported by evidence. Alternative measures such as codes of practice and voluntary charters have been shown not to work effectively – often because there is no capacity for a Commissioner to enforce compliance and hear appeals. Designation is not just about extending the reach of FOISA, but safeguarding vital rights to information.”

In 2010 Mr Dunion told The Firm many authorities continued to operate in a "culture of secrecy".

He also criticised the Scottish Government for using "narrow" and "pedantic" interpretations of requests to deny access to information covered under the act. 

The report can be read here.