Commissioner seeks meeting to discuss Hamilton Inquiry case handling

05 March 2026

Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton has written to  Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin, the head of the civil service in Scotland, to seek an early meeting to discuss a number of issues relating to the Scottish Government's handling of FOI requests regarding the James Hamilton Inquiry. 

The James Hamilton Inquiry was established to determine whether former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had breached the Ministerial Code. The report from this Inquiry was published in March 2021. 

In his letter to the Permanent Secretary, the Commissioner is seeking to discuss a number of issues, including:

• The rationale for redactions made to some information disclosed in response to the Commissioner's decisions
• Matters raised in an earlier letter of 2 February, which have yet to be responded to
• The 'chaotic nature' of the Scottish Government's response to this matter.

The Commissioner also notes that he is considering whether a third intervention in relation to Scottish Government FOI performance may be need to resolve this issues which have arisen in the handling of these cases. The Commissioner currently has two live Level 3 interventions with the Scottish Government relating to other areas of FOI pratice. 

The Commissioner's letter to the Permanent Secretary of 04 March 2026 is published here.