Freedom of Information Request - Citizen Engagement Platform

https://www.nature.scot/doc/freedom-information-request-citizen-engagement-platform

Date: 15 September 2025

Our ref: SIR181350/A5415475

Information Request – Citizen Engagement Platform

Your Request

The information that we require, under the Freedom of Information Act, is as follows:
1) Do you use a Citizen Engagement platform?
2) If so, what tools do you use?
3) How much do you spend annually on a Citizen Engagement tool?
4) Which month & year does your contract with your supplier end?’
A citizen engagement platform is a digital tool or system designed to facilitate communication, interaction, and participation between citizens and government or public institutions. Its goal is to make civic involvement easier, more transparent, and more effective.

Our Response

Following a search of the information we hold our response is set out in the following table. Our response covers the engagement platform we had an active licence for at the time of your request. Please note we do not have one corporate citizen engagement platform which is used for all our work.

Table 1 - Citizen Engagement Platform use
Do you use a Citizen
Engagement
platform?		If so, what tools do
you use?		How much do you
spend annually on a
Citizen Engagement
tool?		Which month & year
does your contract
with your supplier
end?
For our National Park
Reporter work, we
had a one-year
licence for an online
engagement platform.
  • During the National
    Park consultation, we
    used an online citizen
    engagement hub
    known as
    Commonplace. For
    this work, we used
    the engagement
    platform’s capabilities
    for: interactive
    mapping; surveys;
    building a subscriber
    base; sending project
    updates.
  • In addition, we used
    Smart survey
    software for the
    formal consultation
    questionnaires, to
    collect responses,
    provide basic
    response numbers
    and statistics, and
    provide technical
    support.
  • The one-year online
    engagement platform
    licence for the
    National Park
    Reporter work cost
    £23,220.

  • The Smart survey
    licence for the
    National Park
    Reporter work was
    monthly: £84.
  • The one-year
    engagement platform
    licence ran from July
    2024.

  • The monthly survey
    licence ended at the
    end of August 2025.

How We Handled Your Request

We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.

If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.

Review and Appeal

I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.

If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Scottish Information Commissioner 
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road 
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Online appeal service

FOI Website

Telephone: 01334 464610

Yours sincerely

FOI Officer, 
NatureScot 

[email protected]