2026-FOI-012: ADS performance data

2026_FOI_012

17/09/2026

Dear [redeacted information]

REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 (FOISA) 

Thank you for your request dated 23 August 2026 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). 

Your request 

Your request was made up of several components and, for ease, has been outlined below:

1. Please provide the definitions, guidance, methodology or reporting instructions used by Consumer Scotland and/or agreed with ADS for the following terms when ADS reports its performance:

• case;
• enquiry;
• contact;
• client;
• inbound contact;
• outbound contact;
• telephone call;
• email;
• letter or template letter;
• advice provided;
• outcome;
• consumer detriment;
• financial gain;
• financial saving;
• consumer reach; and
• any other measure used to calculate the volume or impact of ADS's consumer advice activity.

In particular, please provide recorded information showing whether multiple contacts relating to the same individual or case may be counted separately when reporting overall activity.

2. Counting of outbound activity

Please provide recorded information explaining whether the following can be counted by ADS towards its reported numbers of enquiries, contacts, cases or other service outputs:

• outbound telephone calls;
• outgoing emails;
• automated emails;
• template letters;
• follow-up communications;
• unsuccessful attempts to contact consumers; and
• multiple interactions relating to a single case.

Please provide any correspondence between Consumer Scotland and ADS concerning how these activities should be counted.

3. Verification of reported figures

Please provide Consumer Scotland's procedures, guidance or methodology for verifying performance figures supplied by ADS.

Please provide recorded information showing whether Consumer Scotland checks ADS's reported figures against underlying source information, including:

• CRM records;
• telephone-system records;
• email-system records;
• case-management records;
• financial records; or
• other underlying datasets.

4. Checks actually undertaken

Please provide records of any occasion on which Consumer Scotland has:

• sampled individual ADS cases;
• reconciled reported totals against underlying records;
• audited ADS's CRM or case-management data;
• requested raw or disaggregated data;
• requested evidence substantiating reported totals;
• identified duplicate or potentially duplicate records;
• questioned the methodology used to calculate reported figures; or
• required ADS to amend, correct or resubmit performance information.

Please include correspondence with ADS relating to such checks.

5. Data discrepancies and concerns

Please provide correspondence, meeting notes or other recorded information in which Consumer Scotland officials identified, discussed or sought clarification regarding:

• discrepancies in ADS figures;
• unexplained changes in reported activity;
• inconsistencies between different ADS reports;
• missing data;
• incomplete historical data;
• duplicate records;
• concerns regarding data quality;
• concerns regarding the reliability of performance information; or
• difficulties substantiating figures reported by ADS.

6. CRM and data migration

Please provide all recorded information held by Consumer Scotland concerning any migration, replacement, alteration or loss of data from an ADS customer relationship management (CRM), case-management or other reporting system.

This should include correspondence, reports or meeting notes concerning:

• loss or unavailability of historical records;
• incomplete historical datasets;
• changes to the periods for which ADS holds underlying case data;
• difficulties comparing performance before and after a system migration;
• reconciliation of old and new datasets;
• duplication created by migration;
• limitations affecting the reliability of historical ADS statistics; and
• any action Consumer Scotland took in response.

7. Historical figures

Where ADS has supplied Consumer Scotland with statistics covering periods for which the underlying individual case records or source data were no longer available, please provide any recorded correspondence or internal discussion concerning how Consumer Scotland satisfied itself as to the accuracy of those figures.

8. Changes or corrections to ADS figures

Please provide a record of any ADS performance figure that has been subsequently corrected, amended, withdrawn or replaced following its original submission to Consumer Scotland.

For each instance, please provide the original figure, revised figure and recorded explanation for the change, where held.

9. Assurance

Finally, please provide any recorded assessment made by Consumer Scotland concerning the accuracy, completeness or reliability of performance data supplied by Advice Direct Scotland.

Please also provide recorded information explaining what assurance Consumer Scotland requires before using ADS performance statistics for:

• grant monitoring;
• evaluation of value for money;
• Consumer Scotland reports or publications;
• briefings to the Consumer Scotland Board;
• reports or information supplied to the Scottish Government; or
• decisions concerning future funding.

For clarity, I am seeking recorded information already held by Consumer Scotland and am not asking Consumer Scotland to undertake new analysis or provide an opinion that has not previously been recorded.

Our response

Exemptions

Section 17: Notice that information is not held

I provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Consumer Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested.

Section 38: Personal information

I provide you with formal notice under section 38 of FOISA that Consumer Scotland has redacted all personal information that may make individuals identifiable. 

Further information on FOISA exemptions can be found here. 

Annexes

There are a number of annexes attached to our response. These are documents relevant to the scope of your search. Some information has been redacted from the documents as it was out of scope of your initial request. 

Please find a content list of the annexes below to assist with your request:

Annex A – Consumer Scotland Data Log for Quarterly Meetings – February 2026

Annex B – Email from Advice Direct Scotland regarding Heat Networks case numbers – February 2026

Annex C – Consumer Scotland collated feedback on Advice Direct Scotland Q1 Report – August 2026

Annex D – Advice Direct Scotland and Consumer Scotland Q1 quarterly meeting minute – August 2026

Your right to request a review 

If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by writing to;

Sam Ghibaldan,

Chief Executive

Consumer Scotland

Thistle House,

91 Haymarket Terrace

Edinburgh,

EH12 5HD

Or by email to:  corporateservices@consumer.scot

Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 40 working days from the date when you received this letter.  We will complete the review in accordance with FOISA as soon as possible, and not later than 20 working days from the day following the date we receive your review request.  

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.  More detailed information on your appeal rights is available on the Commissioner’s website at:

https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Unhappywiththeresponse/AppealingtoCommissioner.aspx

Yours sincerely

[redacted information]

Data Protection Officer

Consumer Scotland

2026_FOI_012 - Annex B - Redacted - Email from ADS regarding Heat Networks - February 2026

From: [redacted information] 

Sent: 24 February 2026 17:02 

To: [redacted information] 

Subject: Heat Networks 

HI

There were 13 cases in Q2 and 8 in Q3. AI seems to have swapped numbers with blanks

[redacted information] 

[redacted information]

[redacted information],

Advice Direct Scotland  

t: [redacted information]

e: [redacted information] 

w: https://www.advicedirect.scot

a:  Mercantile Chambers, 39 - 69  Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 6TS

2026_FOI_012 - Annex D - Redacted -  Advice Direct Scotland and Consumer Scotland Q1 quarterly meeting - August 2026

Consumer Scotland/Advice Direct Scotland: Quarter 1 Governance Meeting

17.08.2026

By Microsoft Teams

Consumer Advice, Energy and Post Advice and Heat Networks Advice

Attendees:

[redacted information]

Budget

• [redacted information]

Quarterly Report Feedback

• [redacted information] shared feedback about quarterly reports as follows:
  • Request for the number of cases to also include detail of the number of individuals supported and the number of calls they received that were either repeat callers or were unable to get responses from others to allow for a more complete picture
  • For reports to have a comparison of figures to the same quarter in the previous year
  • [redacted information]
  • Request for information about how they calculate financial detriment, and for this to be ideally broken down into sectors
  • [redacted information]
  • [redacted information]
  • [redacted information]
  • [redacted information]

Wider policy work

• [redacted information]

Actions:

• [redacted information]

Consumer Scotland

17 August 2026