Fees for freedom of information requests will not be increased following a review of the legislation, it was confirmed yesterday.

Margaret Curran, Minister for Parliamentary Business, said fees would not rise as such a move could prove prohibitive to members of the public wishing to take advantage of the legislation.

Following a review of the legislation, Ms Curran praised public authorities for embracing the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

She said: "It is important that FOI strikes a balance between encouraging use of the act by the public while not imposing an unreasonable burden on authorities.

"We will therefore be looking in more detail at how the fee regulations are working in practice across Scotland."

The review also looked at views on what additional bodies could be covered by FOI.

Before the end of the year, the Scottish Executive will finalise the conditions for considering a body for coverage, and consult with those which ministers decide are suitable.

Two different pieces of legislation govern FOI requests in the UK. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 was passed by Westminster and covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Parliament passed its own FOI Act in 2002 and has its own information commissioner.

Whilst the aims of both the UK and Scottish Acts are broadly similar, there are differences between the two, and the Scottish Act is considered more rigorous. The Scottish test for public interest is stated in terms of "substantial prejudice" rather than "prejudice". The Scottish Act imposes a stricter time limit in cases where public interest has to be considered.

Ministers south of the border hope to bring in cost changes which will effectively bar thousands of requests.

The current fee structure in all parts of the UK allows public bodies to refuse to provide information if collecting it will cost more than £600, for which the maximum charge to the applicant is £50.

In England and Wales the government has proposed changes which would let public authorities rule out more FOI requests on grounds of cost. The proposals would count in costs such as reading the material, considering applications and consulting other organisations. No such changes are being considered in Scotland.