Under data protection law, people have the right to ask an organisation if it holds their personal information and receive a copy of any personal information held within a month, unless an extension is applied – this is known as a subject access request (SAR).

The regulator has now reprimanded both Glasgow City Council and City of Edinburgh Council for repeatedly failing to respond to SARs within the legal timeframe, leading to a significant backlog of requests.

The reprimands follow the ICO’s proactive engagement with all 32 local authorities in Scotland after it became aware of delays in responses to SARs, amounting to years in some cases.

Many local authorities have seen an increase in SARs received, many in relation to the Redress Scotland scheme where people who suffered abuse while in care can apply for redress using supporting documents such as their care records.

Jenny Brotchie, acting head of Scottish Affairs at ICO, said: “Those who were let down in the past are being let down again, this time by poor SAR compliance. We have heard how undue delays and lack of communication from local authorities can cause further distress for people, including those with care experience and those trying to claim redress in Scotland. Local authorities must get this right despite the rising numbers of requests, which is why we have been offering support and monitoring those with poor compliance until we are satisfied that improvements have been made.”

Following ICO’s scrutiny and support to put action plans in place, many local authorities have significantly reduced their backlog of requests and improved their response times.

Despite a 67 per cent overall increase in the total number of SARs to local authorities in Scotland between 2021 and 2024, 75 per cent of local authorities improved their SAR compliance, with 13 local authorities reporting a compliance rate of 90 per cent in 2023/24.

However, the regulator launched investigations into Glasgow City Council and Edinburgh Council after it did not see any tangible improvements over 12 months.

The ICO’s recent compulsory audit of Glasgow City Council found that the council has good policies and procedures in place to handle SARs. However, lack of resource and budget remains an issue, with the council still unable to respond to many SARs within the legal timeframe.

Following its reprimand, Edinburgh Council has now reported some improvement in its response times.

Ms Brotchie added: “While I’m pleased to see significant improvements from most of the local authorities that we engaged with, SAR compliance in Scotland remains a concern and we must ensure people can exercise their information rights effectively and without further harm. We expect all local authorities to have sufficient resources in place to handle the volume and complexity of SARs, and to keep people updated on the progress of their request.

“We are taking a proportionate approach to monitoring local authorities, but these reprimands show that we will not hesitate to take enforcement action where necessary.”