Unlock sex offender data
Scottish housing providers were refused statistics on sex offenders but have won an appeal.
Emma Gilpin, senior solicitor in public law at Brodies, explains.
The Court of Session in Scotland has upheld an appeal by Craigdale Housing Association and a number of other housing associations against a decision of the Scottish Information Commissioner to refuse them access to information about numbers of sex offenders living within the housing association’s area.
The request
The housing associations made the request to Strathclyde Police under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to help them work out whether there was a greater ‘burden’ placed on those areas served by the housing associations - in terms of the numbers of registered sex offenders living in those areas - than on areas deemed to be more ‘affluent’.
Strathclyde Police refused to provide the information and argued that it was ‘exempt’ from release. The Scottish Information Commissioner - who is responsible for checking that public authorities comply with their duties under FOI - upheld the police’s decision to withhold the information.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/ihstory.aspx?storycode=6511381
Emma Gilpin, senior solicitor in public law at Brodies, explains.
The Court of Session in Scotland has upheld an appeal by Craigdale Housing Association and a number of other housing associations against a decision of the Scottish Information Commissioner to refuse them access to information about numbers of sex offenders living within the housing association’s area.
The request
The housing associations made the request to Strathclyde Police under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to help them work out whether there was a greater ‘burden’ placed on those areas served by the housing associations - in terms of the numbers of registered sex offenders living in those areas - than on areas deemed to be more ‘affluent’.
Strathclyde Police refused to provide the information and argued that it was ‘exempt’ from release. The Scottish Information Commissioner - who is responsible for checking that public authorities comply with their duties under FOI - upheld the police’s decision to withhold the information.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/ihstory.aspx?storycode=6511381
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