The majority of people oppose an extension of Freedom of Information request deadlines during the coronavirus crisis, a new poll has found.

The Survation poll for the Open Knowledge Foundation found 52pc of respondents believe that “restricting the public’s right to information is an unnecessary measure”.

The responses were given from those polled across the United Kingdom when asked about new timescales set by the Scottish government for replying to FoI requests.

In Scotland the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill has extended the response deadline to FoI requests from 20 to 60 days with a potential further extension of 40 days.

Only 29pc of those surveyed believe restricting the public’s right to information is a necessary emergency measure.

Catherine Stihler, chief executive of the Open Knowledge Foundation, told The Scotsman: “The poll shows that measures to restrict the public’s right to information must be avoided, as transparency is more important than ever.

“People still trust the government to take the right decisions, but this will be eroded if information is withheld.”

A Scottish government spokesperson told HTFP: “Scotland has the most open and transparent Freedom of Information regime in the UK – separately, we are also proactively providing large amounts of information on the coronavirus pandemic on a daily basis.

“Tackling the public health crisis is the absolute priority, which means that under the temporary measures introduced we will be responding to information requests with much needed breathing space when the focus of staff is – rightly – on protecting lives and delivering essential services to the people of Scotland.

“We absolutely recognise the importance of upholding information rights, and will continue to respond as promptly as possible to requests for information and expect that other Scottish public authorities will endeavour to do so too.

“It is important to note that a ‘sunset clause’ will restore the current FOISA timescales, once the COVID-19 emergency has passed.”

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