In his recently published
special report to the Scottish Parliament, Kevin Dunion stated that the purpose of FOISA would be undermined if any person in an authority believed that an information request could be thwarted by destroying information. The current six month period for action to be taken would, according to the Scottish Commissioner, start from the discovery of an act rather than from the carrying out of the act. This is just one of the areas listed in his report as having scope for improvement. FE and HE staff working in FOI will find this section a useful reminder of what obligations they have and how to meet them.