Council / Journalists ‘abusing’ FOI system blamed for increased pressure on SIC
FREEDOM of Information (FOI) requests are being “abused” and treated like a “game” by journalists to get information from Shetland Islands Council, a meeting heard.
The council’s legal chief Jan Riise said a “significant increase” in the number of FOI requests it receives is putting “considerable pressure on the public purse”.
He said it “takes quite a lot to deflect those want information”, and that it had become “a bit of a game” for some media outlets to gain material.
Under FOI legislation people have the right to request information from public organisations in Scotland, such as councils and health boards.
All requests should be reviewed and responded to in no more than 20 working days, but it is not uncommon for this target to be missed.
Shetland News reported on Monday that the Scottish Information Commissioner is currently undertaking work with the SIC about its “poor performance” with regards to FOI responses.
A report before Thursday’s policy and resources committee said the commissioner had contacted the council in December to ask what had led to a drop in response times.
While Riise said this was now “an improving picture”, he said a large rise in the number of FOI requests was making it difficult for the SIC.
That led to some strong criticism from elected members about the press and its use of FOIs in forming news stories.
Shetland News’ use of FOIs
Shetland News’ two primary news reporters filed just 10 FOI requests between them with the SIC throughout 2025.
Of these, eight were responded to within the 20 working day limit.
However, the SIC took 233 days to respond to one request – before saying they did not hold the information – from July 2025 to February this year.
Another FOI request, made in August 2025, remains outstanding.
The meeting heard that the Scottish Government continues to file a number of FOI requests with the council too, which has placed a burden on stretched teams.
Councillor Robbie McGregor questioned whether the SIC could speak to the press concerned with “fishing exercises” to find out information through FOI.
Riise said that it “takes quite a lot to deflect those who want information”, before adding that they were “entitled to it” by law.
He said it was the “volume” of requests that took up time, rather than what they were requesting specifically.
The legal chief said that when teams were already struggling with low staff numbers, they simply did not have the resources to prioritise that.
However he said he imagined that was what the information commissioner wanted to speak to them about.
“When faced with a scenario like that, it’s not okay to simply say that freedom of information requests are the things that can take the lowest priority, or a very low priority, when you’re dealing with other matters,” Riise added.
FOIs are ‘being abused’
Council depute leader Gary Robinson said it was “disappointing” that the discussion had been dictated by FOI requests.
He said that while he could “understand the need” for them, he feels “they’re being abused”.
If he had it his way, Robinson said, anyone submitting an FOI request would need to “enclose at least five searches in Google or AI” to show they had searched for the information already.
“Sadly freedom of information requests have become the first stop for information,” he said.
“I actually think there’s a notable downturn in journalists and researchers speaking to elected members about issues.
“As freedom of information requests have gone up, actual conversations with people have gone down.”
Councillor Dennis Leask said that an observer from outside Shetland had commented to him about “how much the local media is involved in everything the council seems to do here”.
That was “abnormal in relation to the mainland”, he claimed, and potentially a “specific problem within Shetland”.
The commissioner is due to visit the council in quarter four of 2025/26 about FOI response times, with discussions set to assess whether any further intervention is required.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
