Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

16 Information holder’s failure to provide information sought

(1) This section applies if—

(a) a requester issues a request for information to a person (“the information holder”) under section 14(1) or (2) (as the case may be), and

(b) the information holder fails to provide all of the information within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the information holder received the request (in this section, the information that has not been so provided by the information holder is referred to as “the outstanding information”).

(2) The requester may give notice in writing to the information holder of its intention to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) unless the requester is satisfied that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period.

(3) The requester may apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) only if it has given notice under subsection (2) to the information holder and either—

(a) the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the information holder received the notice has ended and the information holder has not notified the requester in writing that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period, or

(b) the information holder has notified the requester in writing within that 28 day period that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period and the requester, having carried out a review and considered any written representations made by or on behalf of the information holder, is satisfied—

(i) on the conclusion of the review, that the information holder—

(A) has failed to provide it with any of the outstanding information, and

(B) has not provided this information to the relevant person during the relevant period, and

(ii) that the information holder does not have a reasonable excuse for the failure.

(4) But the requester may not apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) after the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the information holder received the request from the requester under section 14(1) or (2).

(5) Where an application is made by the requester under subsection (3), the First-tier Tribunal may make an order under subsection (6) if—

(a) at the time the First-tier Tribunal receives the application, the information holder—

(i) has failed to provide the requester with any of the outstanding information, and

(ii) has not provided this information to the relevant person during the relevant period, and

(b) the First-tier Tribunal is satisfied that the information holder does not have a reasonable excuse for the failure.

(6) An order under this subsection is one requiring the information holder to pay the requester an amount not exceeding £1,000.

(7) In making an order under subsection (6), the First-tier Tribunal may, if it considers it to be appropriate, also order the information holder to provide any of the outstanding information to the requester.

(8) In giving notice under subsection (2), a local authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers about the form and content of such notices.

(9) In this section—

• “relevant period”, in relation to the request made by the requester, means the period of 12 months ending with the day on which the information holder received the request,

• “relevant person”—

  (a)

  where the requester is a local authority, means the Scottish Ministers,

  (b)

  where the requester is the Scottish Ministers, means the local authority for the area in which the house that is the subject of the requester’s request is situated,

• “requester” means—

  (a)

  in the case of a request under section 14(1), the local authority that made the request,

  (b)

  in the case of a request under section 14(2), the Scottish Ministers.