Exclusive:Civil servants 'crippled' by 'rising number of AI questions from MSPs'
MSPs are using AI to lodge batches of up to 20 parliamentary questions at a time, it has been claimed
Civil servants are “crippled” by rising numbers of FOIs and parliamentary questions lodged using AI, it has been claimed.
Workers have raised concerns they are being tied up by increasing volumes of work that stops them fulfilling their core functions.
One staff member said MSPs are using what appear to be AI-generated parliamentary questions (PQs) in batches of up to 20 at a time.
A government staffer said they have sole responsibility for the GP walk-in centre policy but cannot progress the work due to prepping lines and briefing notes.
Another said their work was interrupted to such an extent it put “crucial” farmers’ payments at risk.
A spokesman said the Scottish Government would “invest in skills and technology” to “reduce bureaucracy” during the five year reorganisation plan.
However, comments from civil servants suggest change is needed more urgently.
Once described a team member being diverted to responding to an FOI which “prevented him doing checks that were essential for crucial payments to be made to farmers”.
“Ironically, the FOI case concerned the very same support for farmers,” they added.
“For small teams in particular, FOI can prevent or delay important work getting done but I see no sign of any review of the legislation or the processes which were developed for a very different time.”
Another, posting on the civil service message board Saltire, appealed to the Scottish Government to recognise the time being spent on paperwork.
They wrote: “In many respects, we're now working against technology rather than benefiting from it.
“It’s increasingly easy for large volumes of requests to be generated and submitted, and we've seen what appear to be AI-generated PQs, with MSPs lodging 20 or more at a time.
“While each request may be legitimate in isolation, the cumulative impact can be huge, tying up officials across multiple teams and grades for days.”
They then went on to say they worry that the “sheer volume is starting to hinder the work of government”.
The civil servant calls for ministers to be far clearer in the information they need for briefings as, they say, many briefings are being painstakingly prepared only to be partially used or not read at all.
Another government staff member claims their work preparing the policy for the much-promoted SNP key pledge of GP walk-in centres is being hindered.
They said: “In my role, delivering GP walk-in services, the amount of internal briefing and notes and reporting is actively taking away from getting the services open and running.”
They say that in three days they were asked for 27 different lines, bullets, notes and papers for senior leaders.
“It is currently only me on this policy,” the civil servant says, “Kindly supported by bits of time from others in other teams, and we cannot support the level of requests from elsewhere in the organisation.
“I can deliver the policy or I can report internally. I cannot do both.”
In comments released to The Scotsman under freedom of information legislation, the staffer then appeals to government bosses to invest in AI that can scan the system for information to create briefing notes.
Their colleague then adds: “We are crippled under the volume of PQs, FOIs and briefings and we don’t have the systems in place to support this.”
According to the Scottish Government’s FOI publications pages, annual request volumes nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024.
The 2024 total was approximately 37 per cent higher than in 2021.
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Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton has warned that warned that the resulting pressures are placing the FOI system under significant strain.
Last month, Mr Hamilton warned freedom of information requests to public bodies across Scotland had reached a record 111,241 in 2025-26, up 13 per cent on the previous year.
Appeals to his office had risen by 83 per cent.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government’s five-year change plan sets out how the organisation will evolve and improve between now and 2031.
“It commits us to becoming smaller and more focused by investing in skills and technology and reducing bureaucracy.
“This plan explains how the Scottish Government will work in new ways to respond to these pressures, building the skills and capability we need, harnessing technology, and playing to Scotland's distinctive strengths as a smaller, more agile organisation.”
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