Water regulator is ‘worst offender’

SCOTLAND’S water regulator held unminuted meetings and routinely destroyed records to avoid responding to freedom of information (FoI) requests, it is claimed.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland was yesterdaynamed as the “worst example” of organisational FoI evasion encountered by Kevin Dunion in his nine-year term as Information Commissioner.

Speaking at Holyrood’s Justice Committee yesterday, when asked if he had evidence of deliberate attempts to avoid data-gathering, Mr Dunion said: “I’ve even been present at meetings where that has been said and they have said ‘cover your ears up, commissioner’.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: “If there was a case where people were deliberately meeting or exchanging emails through personal email addresses - as has been suggested has happened down south - in an attempt to avoid FoI requests - I think that has got to be at least looked at for the future.”

Related topics: