The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued formal reprimands to Glasgow City Council and the City of Edinburgh Council due to persistent delays in responding to Subject Access Requests (SARs). The ICO's action follows proactive engagement with all 32 Scottish local authorities after the regulator identified significant delays in SAR response times, in some cases extending to years.
The surge in SARs is partly attributed to the Redress Scotland scheme, which allows abuse survivors to access care records for redress applications. While many local authorities improved their SAR compliance after ICO scrutiny and support, reducing backlogs and improving response times, Glasgow and Edinburgh local authorities failed to demonstrate tangible progress over a 12-month period.
Despite a 67% overall increase in SARs to Scottish local authorities between 2021 and 2024, 75% of these authorities improved their compliance, with 13 achieving a 90% compliance rate in 2023/24. However, the ICO's audit of Glasgow City Council revealed that while they have adequate policies and procedures, resource and budget constraints hinder their ability to meet legal response deadlines. Following the reprimand, the City of Edinburgh Council has reported some improvement in its response times.
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