Section 60 & Section 61 Codes of Practice
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 required Scottish Ministers to issue two Codes of Practice, under sections 60 and 61 of the Act. Before the Codes were issued, the Scottish Ministers consulted formally with the Scottish Information Commissioner and, in relation to the section 61 Code of Practice, with the Keeper of the Records of Scotland.
The section 60 Code of Practice on the Discharge of Functions by Public Authorities provides guidance to Scottish public authorities on practices they should follow in meeting their FOI obligations, including the provision of advice and assistance to applicants, and the transfer of requests by one authority to another.
The section 61 Code of Practice on Records Management provides authorities with guidance as to the keeping, management and destruction of the authorities' records, and on the review and transfer of records to both the Keeper of the Records of Scotland at the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) and other public archives.
To assist Scottish public authorities to develop records management arrangements which comply with the Code, the Keeper of the Records of Scotland has produced a Generic Model Action Plan, which should be read in conjunction with the Section 61 Code.
It can be used as a guide by individual organisations, and can also be used as the basis for the development of sector-specific codes tailored to the needs and business practices of particular types of public authority.