Council chiefs said they received zero ‘frivolous’ Freedom of Information requests after a councillor suggested the public should be charged for making them.

The council leader confirmed they received 1,636 in 2018/19 requests for information and 1,170 in the first three quarters of 2019/2020.

This is after Cllr Donald L Reid asked how many FoI requests were received and how many were serial or vexatious requests have been sent.

Cllr Reid said: “It is my belief that councils should be able to charge a fee for answering Freedom of Information requests.

“Charging for some requests would deter individuals from misusing FOI regulations for their personal benefit.

“Current legislation makes it too easy for people to make requests that might not serve the public interest including ‘serial requesters who make frivolous and vexatious requests placing additional burdens on the council information officers.’

Cllr Joe Cullinane said none of the requests have been considered vexatious by the Scottish Information Commisioner’s guidelines

He said: “It is important to recognise that the use of FOI legislation by the public or press is only rarely misused.

“There were zero vexatious requests.

“No figures are held for serial complaints as in practice such requests tend to be variants of the original request.”