Scotland has separate freedom-of-information and environmental-information legislation.

Scottish public authorities are subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. The Scottish Information Commissioner oversees both regimes.

Planning and energy-consent information will often be environmental information.

Scottish Government disclosure practice shows planning-application information and communications concerning planning applications being handled under the Scottish EIRs, with section 39(2) of FOISA used so the same environmental information does not also need to be processed under FOISA.

Use the Scottish review route.

If dissatisfied with the response, the requester normally asks the Scottish public authority to review its decision before applying to the Scottish Information Commissioner, subject to the statutory requirements and deadlines.

Use the 2026 Section 60 Code when assessing public-authority practice.

The Scottish Government published a revised FOI/EIR Section 60 Code of Practice on 25 March 2026. It provides current best-practice guidance for Scottish public authorities handling requests.

For Section 36 or 37 research, identify the holder of the record.

Relevant information may be held by Scottish Ministers or the Energy Consents Unit, a local planning authority or another Scottish public authority. Send the request to the body that holds the records rather than assuming all project correspondence is held centrally.

Sources and further information

Scottish Government - FOI/EIR Section 60 Code of Practice (2026)

Scottish Information Commissioner - Your rights

Scottish Information Commissioner - Environmental information

Last checked: 26 September 2026